First of all,
Why do I exercise?
- It reduces the risk of heart disease.
- It helps keep your blood pressure within normal limits.
- It lowers cholesterol levels.
- It strengthens your immune system.
- It improves concentration, memory, alertness, and creativity.
- It reduces stress and depression.
- It improves sleep.
- It reduces the risk of bone loss, which is very important as we age.
- It promotes overall health.
According to a recent study of 34,000 women, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard team reports that an hour a day of moderate exercise is needed to fight the increased weight. They also recommended to diet along with exercise for it to more effective. (Source)
The UK government advises adults to exercise for at least half an hour five or more days a week. But Professor Paul Gately, who runs Carnegie Weight Management Programme at Leeds Metropolitan University, said the government recommendation is the amount of exercise needed to reduce risk of ill health.
He said more exercise was needed to avoid weight gain, and an hour a day was in line with findings of previous research.
How to get started?
It’s not possible to get up from chair & start doing an exercise for an hour daily. First you have to select the right type of exercise according to your body & start to increase its time gradually. The most common plan recommended by fitness experts is to start with jogging for 10-15 mins on alternate days ,i.e., you do it on Monday, then on Wednesday, then on Friday & so on. Then after continuing this plan for 2-3 weeks, increase the time from 15 mins to 20 mins & so on.
But keep one thing in mind, all this depends on the current state of your body. You can also start at much lower scale. Doing it regularly is the main thing.
Selecting a good environment, wearing comfortable clothing & shoes is also important.
The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends. So get going now!
