Preparing to excercise

Preparing to Exercise

Before you begin a rigorous exercise routine it is important to remember several key points. Paying attention to these points can make your exercise routine more effective, enjoyable, and safer.

Check with your health professional to receive an approval to do the exercises you intend to perform. This may entail a physical exam to make sure it is safe to do the routine and to make sure the exercises you are going to do are not going to cause any problems with any pre-existing conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, or other conditions that may affect your health.

Establish goals for your program. This will help to keep you motivated as well as help you decide what you want to gain from your program. General goals may include strengthening, toning, or improving cardiovascular endurance. Your goals may be more specific to what parts of your body you want to work on such as upper body, abdominal strength and so on. You can even be more specific to include how much weight you eventually want to lift, or how many sets you want to work up to, or how much endurance you want to gain.

Establish a specific and regular time to exercise. This will help you to keep your routine more consistent and more of a habit. It also ensures that other things in your daily life activity will not interrupt you. You may also find that you prefer to exercise at a certain time of day.

Wear comfortable clothing. Clothing should not interfere with your exercise equipment. Wear clothes that allow you to absorb perspiration and that allow good airflow to prevent overheating. Wear proper athletic shoes for foot protection in case a weight is accidentally dropped.

Warm-up prior to starting your full program. A warm-up prepares your body by increasing blood flow, loosening up the muscles, increasing heart rate, and can help reduce injury. This may be a short walk or jog or a mild bicycling regime. Simple range of motion exercises are also very good. These include shoulder circles, neck rotations, trunk rotations, leg circles, and so on. You should warm up each part of your body that you intend to work out. A warm-up should last about 4-5 minutes. Another part of warm up is to start out with lighter weights and gradually work up to the full routine.

Keep a workout log. This will help you determine when you have reached your goals. Record sets, reps, weights, treadmill speeds and information of this nature. You may also want to keep measurements of your arms or waist as well as your weight.

After your exercise routine, go through a cool down. Cool down can be the same as your warm up. Simple active movements help your body to return to its resting state. Gentle stretching is also a good thing to do. It keeps you limber and may help ease any delayed onset muscle soreness that may occur.
For more information and details, consult with your health professional.