How To Make Your Own Exercise Routine
There isn’t a magical cure when it comes to physical activity. Ultimately, when planning your weekly routine, it’s best to include a variety of activities to maximize the positive effects. Doing only one kind of exercise is like eating a fruit-only diet: it’s good for you, but you won’t get the variety of nutrients you would from things like fish, vegetables, protein, and nuts. Because of this, you should put together a solid exercise schedule that incorporates different things.
While this may seem like a lot at once, it’s important to realize that routines can be divided into sets. Getting the recommended 30 minutes of aerobic activity each day can be accomplished with as little as three 10-minute walks, for example.
With all this in mind, here are some of the best ways to make your own exercise routine that you can stick to, and that will give you some good health benefits.
Warm Up
Before you can do anything else, it’s crucial to be aware that every workout should start with a simple warm-up and end with a cool-down. As part of your warm-up, you should do gentle exercise like jogging in place to get more oxygen-filled blood to your muscles and loosen them up. After that , do some stretches so you don’t get too stiff.
Be Consistent
There is no more important aspect of training than maintaining consistency. You need to put in a lot of work over a lengthy period of time in the gym. First and foremost, you should focus on developing a strategy that will allow you to work out every day (or every day you plan to do it). The most effective exercise plan in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t follow it. If you can’t work toward your goals, whether because of a lack of progress, incentive, or a frustrating injury that requires tape on knees after your workout (which can actually help a lot), you will miss them.
This means you need to make a plan that you can actually follow, with the right amount of work and rest. This is a little bit of an art, but the first step is easy: write out a general schedule. What will you do every day, from Monday to Sunday?
Get a piece of paper and write the days of the week down one side. Then, decide what you’ll do each day: work out or rest. Plan to work out five times a week and take two days off. This is more than enough for most people to get good results. Keep in mind that not every workout day will be a hard training day or a day with a lot of miles. Some days will be hard training days, while others will just be days for recovery or extra work.
Include Strength Training
Resistance training, often known as strength training, protects against bone loss and helps build muscle by using various forms of resistance, such as free weights, weight machines, or resistance bands or tubing. It helps you gain muscle while decreasing fat. Including it in your regular workout is essential.
Pushing against a barrier like a wall or lifting a heavy dumbbell both qualify as forms of strength or resistance training. Muscles get stronger as the weight or resistance is increased, so keep going heavier. Strength training not only helps you tone up, but it also gives you the strength you need to perform daily tasks like moving groceries, climbing stairs, getting out of a chair, and running to catch the bus.
Don’t Forget Balance Exercises
As we get older, our sense of balance tends to get worse. It can be damaged even more by medical problems like neuropathy, which can be a side effect of diabetes or some chemotherapy drugs and cause prickling, pain, and loss of feeling in the feet. It can also be hurt by side effects from other medications, vision problems, or a lack of flexibility. People who don’t have good balance tend to trip and fall, which can cause injuries to the head, bones, and nervous system that can be temporary or permanent. Hip fractures, in particular, can cause serious health problems and make it hard to live on your own.
A mix of walking, strength exercises, and balance exercises can help older people who are likely to fall, but the earlier you start, the better, and that’s why it’s important to include strength training in your workout routine. Activities like tai chi, yoga, and Pilates can help you keep your balance. Balance can also be helped by exercises that work the core muscles in your stomach and back.