No truer words have ever graced this blog.

The recommended guidelines for physical activity suggest that in order to be healthy, you should do a minimum of 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week and a minimum of 2 days a week of resistance training. But if you can’t do that, just yet, are you a lost cause? Should you give up and “accept” that it’s just not in the stars for you to live a healthier rest-of-your-life?

Don’t focus on what you can’t do, and focus instead on what you can do. Take that first step of a 30 minute walk, and stop when you have to. And if you feel up to it tomorrow, do it again.  Pick up the 5-pound dumbbells if the 40-pound dumbbells are a little too intimidating right now. Whatever you can do, do it. Don’t sit around thinking about all the things you can’t do right now. If you just get started by taking the first step, some day you’ll be able to say you can.

I’ve heard this so many times before: “I want to lose weight, but I’m too heavy to run, so I’m just going to focus on diet right now, and I’ll start exercising when I’ve lost some weight…” Newsflash, my friend: running isn’t the only form of exercise out there. In fact it isn’t even the best form of exercise for everyone, even some very fit people. It’s one thing to be fit enough to run after your kid before she runs into the middle of the street, or run to the bus before you miss it, and another thing altogether to be fit to run a marathon (26 miles!), or even 1 mile.

Take a walk, dance, ride a bike, sit down and stand up - whatever it takes, just start moving.

Here’s a great little story from Lynn Swann (NFL Hall of Fame Member and Former Chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports):

I have a friend who wanted and needed to lose weight. He went to a trainer and said he wanted to start a workout program. My friend is about 5’4″. His weight was north of 300 pounds. The trainer told him to get dressed and walk for as long and as far as he could. After about 20 minutes of walking, he came back and asked the trainer what was next. The trainer said, “That’s it. Come back tomorrow.” My friend came back the next day and repeated the same 20-minute walk. He continued to walk each day until he could run…. To date, my friend has now run 19 marathons around the world and weighs 165 pounds.

The point: if you just take that first step and consistently stick with it, you can reach high goals. Starting off slowly with small achievable goals and sound advice will ensure safety in your training routine and deter you from giving up. This way you will not be overwhelmed by a large, daunting long-term goal, and you’ll gain all the benefits of regular physical activity. [1] 

Reference:

1. A Healthier You - A publication of the US Department of Health & Human Safety.
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/contents.htm

Last Modified : September 25th, 2008 Filed under : Move Navigate : Previous post / Next post