It’s an unfortunate fact that many people who start a fitness regime will, after a few weeks, decide to quit. For many people, this happens just after New Year when they’ve made their New Year resolution to get healthier and fitter. However, whatever the reason you may have decided to stop working out, that doesn’t mean you can’t then decide to resume, although you do need to consider a few things before you do. Here are some top tips on how you can get your body back into shape quickly and easily.
How Long Has It Been?
“Why did I stop working out?” is a very important question to ask yourself. Studies have shown that even a 3-day break in cardio workouts can affect your performance, though this should have much less impact on your overall fitness than if you haven’t worked out for a good year or more. For example, if you have been suffering from an illness or injuries for a long period of time, you may not be able to work out as much as you have hoped. In these circumstances, it is important that you consider that when beginning your exercise regime.
Seek Advice
For some people, the idea of working out and staying fit could be something that they have been looking to do for many years. But, through lack of opportunity and motivation, they have not done anything like the amount of exercise they should have. For these people, it is important they don’t just jump onto an exercise bike and start a 5-mile run without assessing their personal fitness first. Before starting out on any kind of exercise, it is important that you seek the advice of your doctor, even if you feel well. Your doctor can take into consideration your medical history and help you create an exercise plan that will be beneficial to you. For example, if you’re suffering from a disease such as pulmonary hypertension, then your doctor can advise you on the best types of exercise for you, and also help you with any medication or other treatment that you might need while you’re exercising such as those on this website.
Start Slowly
The enthusiasm of wanting to get fit can sometimes get in the way of your better judgment. For example, even though you may not have done any type of exercise for a couple of years, you may feel as though you want to go on a long bike ride at your first outing. While this might seem like a good idea at the time, you will soon realize that you may be taking on more than you can achieve on your first day. It is important that you begin your exercise regime slowly so that you can build up your resistance and also, so you don’t suffer any injuries. There are many people who want to start an intensive regime at the gym only to find they suffer an injury which puts them out for a couple of weeks and the motivation starts to dwindle. The best idea is to set yourself a plan for your exercise, working your way up slowly so that you are testing yourself but not going too far past your limits each day. After a couple of weeks, you might find this plan might not be enough and you will need to increase it in order to get the same level of intensity.
Do the Things You Love
After you’ve spoken to your doctor and they have advised you on the types of exercise you can do, you then have to consider what exercise you will be able to do long-term without suffering from boredom. It is most often the case that people who embark on complicated or certain types of exercise because they believe it’s the best for them will soon lose interest and therefore motivation. To help counteract this you need to think of exercises that you enjoy doing or perhaps even a pastime that will give you the exercise you need. For example, if you love swimming, there is no reason why you can’t go swimming every day or a couple of times a week. This will not only be good for your health it will also be allowing you to do something that you enjoy. Another example is walking, but if you don’t enjoy walking alone, you can always join a local rambler’s group. Many of them regularly do an hour or two per week which should be enough to get you started.
Add Exercise into Your Day
Together with doing exercises that you enjoy it is also important to try and fit exercise into your day if possible. It can be easy to come up with excuses not to do any exercises or go to the gym if you have other things that you’d rather be doing. To make this work, try adding your exercise as part of your daily routine in the diary. Book yourself a slot and ensure that you stick to it and don’t double book it. If you don’t have time to dedicate an hour for the gym, then try to add exercise into your daily routine. One way to do this will be to get off one or two stops on the bus and walk the rest of the way to work or to take the stairs instead of taking a lift once you get there. Just these minor adjustments to your day can make a big difference to your overall exercise, and eventually, you’ll find that this will become easier over time.
While the thought of getting into a new exercise regime can be one of the last things on your mind, it is important for both the physical and mental health if you can do so. All you need is the time and commitment to dedicate yourself to regular exercise, and you will soon find many benefits will come from it. The first and most important thing is not a delay but start today.