Now that spring has hit, everyone tries to scramble and get their body ready for summer. The typical approach is all or nothing, which never lasts and usually leads to injury so you unfortunately do achieve the results you desire.
There is a better, way these are my top 3 tips to get your exercise program off on the right foot.
Start with strengthening exercises – the best thing to start, no matter what you goal exercises, running, cycling or just walking, is to make your body stronger.
Lack of strength in the major postural muscles, in particular the core stabilisers, the gluteals (buttock muscles), quadriceps and shoulder blade stabilisers is a major limiting factor to better performance, and can lead to injury or exercise being harder work than it needs to be.
This should be the focus of the first 6-7 weeks of your exercise program
Add cardio exercise gradually – once you have developed basic strength, start you cardio gradually. Work at moderate intensity and build up to a higher intensity as your body adapts.
At the start you may be able to only jog for 10min. That’s okay, as you get used to the activity you will be able to do more with less effort. Be patient, it will happen.
Remember to add rest – it is one of the most important parts of your program. Your muscles grow and adapt when you rest, not when you exercise.
Lack of rest means you slow your progress down and are more likely to sustain an injury. But, active rest is okay. You can walk on your rest days, but do not exercise at a training level.
My best recommendation is strengthening 2-3 times a week, cardio training 2 times a week resting on the remaining days for a great outcome.
