You’ve been participating in the Get Fit, Don’t Quit technology-based program for three
months. Now, that our Get Fit, Don’t Quit program is coming to an end, the biggest
challenge may be, how do you continue your healthy lifestyle efforts?
Set goals for yourself in three month intervals. By the end of three months, even
former couch potatoes find that exercise has become part of their lives, and they feel
unhappy without it. Chart your progress, too, with a graph that shows how many miles a
week you’ve walked or cycled.
Be realistic. For every year you’ve been out of shape, it takes a month to get back in
shape. For most, it takes eight weeks or so to start reaping the benefits of exercise.
Don’t overdo it. If you can’t carry on a conversation while exercising, you’re going
overboard.
If you find yourself looking for an excuse to get out of going to the gym, make yourself a
deal. Try the 15 minutes rule -- if you still hate the workout by this point, you can stop
without feeling guilty.
Chances are, though, that once you've put in your 15 minutes, you'll feel reinvigorated
and want to continue for another 15 or 30 minutes or longer. It's just a matter of getting
started.
Find a buddy (spouses count) and exercise together.
Cross-train. Vary your fitness activities to achieve all-round fitness.
Try different activities and schedules until you find the one that’s right for you.
Cardiovascular fitness is an on-going process and requires a lifetime commitment,
so once you’ve started – don’t quit. If you do, the benefits are rapidly lost. Exercise
habits should be maintained year round, year after year.
Ways to Boost Your Workout
1. Hike over rugged terrain. When you change the surface, you change the
resistance. It forces legs to work harder and ups your cardiovascular effort.
2. Try toning moves. Doing bicep curls and overhead presses while you walk tones
arms and builds muscles.
3. Walk backwards. Do it in one-minute spurts. Calves, hamstrings and buttocks
will get more of a workout.
4. Do speed intervals. Every six minutes of your outing, mix in one-minute burst of
super-fast walking. Bouts of intense exercise build endurance and burn more
calories.
5. Walk/Run. Just like speed intervals, but this time you’ll be running for one
minute. Work up to this – it may be too taxing for beginners.
6. Add hills. It’s an easy way to burn extra calories and hone in on buttock muscles.
7. Exercise aerobically at least 3 to 4 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. If
you can’t spare a continuous 30-minute block of time, break down your workout
into smaller segments.
8. Lift light weights (no heavier than 10 pounds) or do some sort of resistance
training to build muscle at least 3 to 4 times a week for a minimum of 10 minutes.
9. Before indulging . . .ask yourself, is it really worth it? Here’s how many lengths
of a football field (including the end zones) you’ll have to walk to burn off the
calories.*
Food Lengths of a Football Field (120 Yards)
1 Regular M & M 1 length
1 Peanut M & M 2 lengths
1 Potato Chip 2 lengths
1 Hershey’s Kiss 5 lengths
1 Snicker’s Bar 54 lengths
1 Gotta Have It size – Chocolate Devotion 109 lengths
Ice Cream – Cold Stone Creamery
1 Big Mac, Fries, and a Milkshake 240 lengths
* Source: Move to Improve, by Robert Sweetgall, Creative Walking, Inc.
* Endorsement of a particular product is not intended or implied.
Sources: Women’s Exercise Made Easy, Home Library, March/April 1992, Vol.1 No.1
About Your Heart and Exercise, American Heart Association, National Center,
Dallas, TX.
Move to Improve, Robert Sweetgall, Creative Walking, Inc.
Submitted by: Cindy Shuster, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Perry County