I Want to Know How to Get Conditioned

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

17 Sep 2007 06:00 AM

Welcome to Monday morning and to the next installment in our I Want to Know series. Mondays are hard days for me, at least lately, with my amount of time spent subbing increasing, I have to be more creative about getting my exercise in along with my writing and time with my daughter. A couple of weeks ago, I asked and you answered. Several of you wanted to know how to get in better condition whether it was just to tone up or to trim down.

Exercise is a great way to get the body in shape, the mind sharper and to balance your overall stress levels. But if you haven't been exercising regularly, chances are your body is de-conditioned whether you're overweight or not. So getting started on the re-conditioning means you need to take deliberate steps and set very clear goals for yourself.

Reconditioning

First and foremost, check with your physician to make sure that there are no health reasons to avoid exercise. As I stated earlier in the year, annual check-ups are incredibly important. Without mine, I might have not had the early detection of the mass on one of my ovaries. So if you haven't seen your doctor this year, schedule an appointment.

Now, let's get back to our reconditioning advice. Going from nothing to something takes time and you don't want to start running 5 miles a day cold. Instead, you want to aim for 30 minutes of consecutive activity 4 to 6 days per week. In other words, your keyword here is consistency. Whether you are walking leisurely or power walking or somewhere in between, the more consistent you are about your workout, the better your results are going to be.

The average person will lose about 1 to 2 pounds a week once they get started on a regimen of exercise and begin to monitor their consumption of excessive sweets and fats. So while the scale may be one way to measure your progress, there are a number of other ways that I think are a lot more effective than the scale.

• If you have high blood pressure or worries about it, regular exercise should decrease your blood pressure to less than 130/90. Be sure to check in with your physician regularly to make sure you are getting the proper monitoring
• Measure your body - regular exercise will not only trim areas of your body, but actually begin to reshape it. A few years ago when I restarted my exercise program, I lost three dress sizes in a matter of weeks - this can be a huge boost to keeping you on track with your conditioning program
• Your Heart Rate - The more out of shape you are, the faster your heart has to beat to make sure you get plenty of oxygen to the rest of your body. As you get fitter, your heart doesn't have to beat as fast to do its job. A good resting heart rate to aim for is about 65-70 beats per minute

We're going to talk more about reconditioning this week and getting ourselves back into the shape we want to be in. What do you want to know?

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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