HOW TO START
It’s early January and many have made a New Year’s resolution to improve their fitness. You are not alone! January is the highest month for fitness center sign-ups. Give a credit card and you are on your way! But are You?
How many continue after the first few months? Many like me in past years get kind of bored with going to a fitness center several times a week and gradually find excuses to skip. Work, competing events, school, dates, the movies, social media – whatever! Meanwhile, the credit card is relentlessly being charged.
That all changed after my stroke!
Recovering, I learned that the important question is – once started, how do you sustain your physical fitness momentum?
Let’s look at a few realities.
Cardiologists say that someone should spend 150 to 180 minutes per week in sustained exercise. But if you are not doing any physical fitness or are disabled, or both – getting to the prescribed 150-180-minute level is a bit like climbing Mt. Everest. The picture is beautiful as you can see but there is a supreme struggle, and for mere mortals, it seems undoable. That leads to frustration, possible depression and eventually many give up which frankly is the wrong thing to do.
Let’s address the 180 minutes – if you go 3 times a week that is an hour of sustained exercise per visit and if you go 4 times that is 45 minutes. Both those numbers are big, really big if you are starting from zero.
THE SOLUTION – The Stroke Victor Fitness Plan
I worked out a one-step-at-a-time solution to ultimately achieve my goal. I respectfully, would like to share it with you. I call it the Stroke Victor Fitness Plan.
Before you start, please consult your physician. Having done that,
First, initially, forget the 180-minute stuff. Just put it out of your mind. Instead, start with a 30 or 40 minute per week objective. You pick the starting number and activity based on your situation. Maybe it’s walking 5 or 10 minutes per day that you weren’t doing before. Maybe it’s going to a fitness center and using a recumbent bike – whatever you can do safely.
Write down your objective – call it week 1 and write down the days of the week so you can keep a record. Do it for each week and then track your progress.
Ask yourself – can I realistically achieve that number of minutes per week? Can I push myself to 40 minutes? If it’s 30 minutes, that 10 minutes 3 times per week. Now do it – achieve it! Any combination of days and minutes to achieve the objective. And get the happy emoji! NOW DO IT!!
I will continue next time but meantime – you get started. Consult your physician to be sure he or she approves doing some fitness and get the ball rolling.
Good Luck!
Part – 1 of 2 of Fitness
Find out more in Part – 2
