"You need to exercise more."
"You need to strengthen your core."
"You need to increase your flexibility."
One of my favorite memes is a girl in her bathrobe laying on a treadmill with a glass of wine, eating chips and watching her ipad. The caption reads, 'the doctor told me to spend at least 30 minutes a day on the treadmill.'
Words are important!
How frustrating it can be when a doctor or physical therapist or whoever makes a blanket statement about how to get your body healthier.
It's one of my favorite topics to tackle and I love breaking it down so that you can feel more confident and comfortable doing what you need to do to achieve whatever necessary goal!
How do you get started? It can be sooooooo easy, but the first steps may require help.
Getting started with a new exercise routine or a new any kind of routine can feel overwhelming, especially when it's a directive from your doctor. However, with a structured, small steps approach, you can ease into physical activity and make it a sustainable part of your life.
Some of the items we'll discuss include, but are not limited to:
1. Understanding the recommendation. Start by clarifying what they mean by “exercise more.” Understanding can help you create a more tailored plan.
2. Choosing activities you enjoy or expanding on activities you are currently doing in your day. Just because they said to walk more...maybe for you swimming or water walking would be more enjoyable. Choose activities that you find enjoyable or that you’re curious to try. Finding joy in the activity will make it easier to stick with your routine.
3. Setting realistic goals. Break down your overall goal into smaller, manageable steps. This will make the long term goal more attainable over time.
4. Creating a schedule that works for you. We'll talk about times of the day and time spent on the activity or activities.
5. How to start slow and progress gradually over time. Regardless of what you USED to do, if you haven't done it in a while, it will take the body a slower, back to basics style of starting back up again.
6. How to find a possible workout buddy...if it would help you - I love sharing my steps on the phone. It keeps me motivated. Keep in mind, what works for one person, might not work for you.
7. Trial and error learning. What you try might not always work the first time around. It can take realizing what doesn't work, before you can find out what will...for you.
8. How would you like to track your progress? Tracking your progress helps you stay motivated by visualizing how far you’ve come and adjusting your goals as needed. But there are numerous options...which one is going to work for you is a personal choice.
9. Listening to your body and understanding what it might be trying to tell you. People respond differently to workouts/movement/exercise. Find out what helps you the most for success. And let's make sure to prevent injury or any kind of re-injury.
10. Incorporating variety! I would get so bored if I did the same thing all the time, every time. Options!
11. Be patient and kind to yourself!
Remember, the key to long-term success is consistency and finding ways to make exercise a natural and rewarding part of your life.