Maintain Your Exercise Flow

You got off the couch and started. Great. Unfortunately it’s usually about this time—several weeks into a new fitness routine—that many start to feel like quitting.

Before you do, remember the questions you asked yourself at the beginning of this New Year: How can I reduce the extra weight I put on during the holidays? How can I improve my fitness level, health, job situation and self image? How can I start learning ways to make permanent changes, not just temporary ones I’ve made in the past? Do you think one, two or all of these are worth your continual effort?

If you started with great expectations and your enthusiasm is waning, remember the migration of the swallows. These birds start their migration in mid-October from South America, making their way north to San Juan Capistrano. This small bird takes a long journey; just imagine if it quits or tries to take short cuts to its destination. One thing is for sure: It would not have a festival each year in its honor and would upset the natural flow of spring for all who want to celebrate its arrival. Each of us has a natural flow; the trick is to find your own and follow it. To help you find and maintain your natural flow, I want you to promise yourself that you will follow all of the actions listed below. If not, choose one of them:

• Slow down. If you started too fast, you probably got sore after your first or second workout. You also probably released so many toxins into your system that your body could not discard them fast enough. To slow down, reduce the intensity of your effort. Intensity is the amount and level of your work. You can determine your intensity by keeping a check of your pulse rate. A safe level is between 60 and 75 percent of your maximum heart rate; this rate can be increases as you increase your level of fitness, If you start to think that your working out is running into other responsibilities, think about scaling back what you are doing.
• Scaling back your effort look at the type, duration, frequency and mode of your work.
Type refers to the kind of exercise you are performing whether aerobic, walking, jogging, rowing, stepping, bicycling, swimming, hiking, rollerblading, tennis and outdoor biking) or anaerobic (resistance training, calisthenics, weightlifting) Duration refers to the amount of time spent exercising in one session. An effective rule of thumb is about 30 minutes aerobic, 40 minutes resistance training and 15 minutes stretching. Frequency refers to how often you exercise. A general rule of thumb is to vary your effort between three and six times per week, depending on the aims you want to achieve.
• Ask for assistance at your club or gym.

Let the natural course of your being determine your success. Don’t force it, and just keep going, until next time.

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