Exercise Principles: Do It Right & It Works

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

07 May 2007 06:32 PM

When you were a kid if you shoved everything on the floor in your room under your bed, this is not what you mother meant when she told you to clean up your room. When your teacher told you to do your homework and turn it in on Friday, you probably lost points if it didn't make it in until the following week. When we're a kid, we're told over and over again - do it right the first time.

Do It Right the First Time

We have a saying in our house, if you do it right the first time, you don't have to go back and do it again. How you exercise falls into a similar model. If you do it right the first time, if you follow the explicit instructions, you'll see results. Too often people try to exercise for a few days and they don't get immediate gratification and they walk away.

Worse still are those who try a variety of exercise programs, never quite spending enough time on any of them to really challenge him or herself. I'm not your mom and I'm not even your personal trainer, but I can give you some insights into how to do it right so that you can keep doing it and see the results that you want to see.

What You Need to Know

So what do you need to know? You need to know that:

• Every single one of us is different and every single one of us responds to exercise styles in different ways - running worked for me years ago, but I can't imagine doing it now. Not only does running make my knees ache at the thought, it's just not my style of things - walking, however, I'm a power walker, I can walk till the end of time, so that's where you start, you find what works for you and that's where you begin, but what works for you is just that - a beginning and not an ending
• You use it or you lose it. The truth is that when you use your muscles, they get stronger and you burn calories and you firm up and get a great appearance. If you don't use them, then muscles become soft and whether you lose weight or not, you will still look soft and flabby. This is an issue I know some people who have done the Atkins diet with no exercise - they lose a lot of weight, but they don't gain any muscle tone and some of the weight they lose is not just fat - it's muscle
• That your body is designed to adapt. If you do the same exercise routine, day in and day out, never increasing the weight, never changing it up or shifting the types of crunches or employing overload in their training methods - your body will become used to the workout, the stress will no longer be stress and you won't progress in your training

I know these principles sound simple on paper and they are. They are simple to put into practice. Don't look for shortcuts and don't sabotage yourself by trying to rush to a conclusion - do it right the first time and you'll get to where you want to be.

Related Articles:

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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