Stretch It Out
Don’t think you have the time or the energy for exercise? Intimidated by starting out with a full exercise regime?
Then why not introduce your body slowly into exercising?
It’s no secret that starting with a harsh, cold turkey diet and a full, complicated exercise regime will have you hitting the chocolate chip cookies again faster than a bad day at work. Sure, there are stories of people who ‘just did it’, but most of us can’t – and shouldn’t expect ourselves to – get into something so severe so suddenly.
So if a full gym membership and personal trainer is a bit intimidating (and/or not affordable), start with the little things.
Like stretching.
You might not think about it as exercise, but stretching can be great beginners exercise (and something you should be doing no matter what level of fitness you are at). Exercise, in essence, is using your muscles. And so is stretching!
To gently introduce yourself to daily movement and making the daily exercise habit, try taking out time each day just for stretching. It doesn’t have to be for a long time when you’re starting out. Focus on getting yourself into the habit.
After you’ve been doing it for a while, you can begin adding things on like a stretch then a walk that gradually increases in time.
See? Exercise doesn’t have to be that bad.
Always remember, if something doesn’t feel right to you or starts to cause pain, ease yourself out of the position the same way you eased yourself into it. Don’t push because that will just lead to injury.
To read more about stretching, check this out.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
On days when I just do not want to exercise, I do a few simple yoga stretches and really take my time with them and I usually feel pretty good with that. Plus I get to notice the differences in how I am feeling more flexible and that is always good.
March 10th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
That’s why stretching is so lovely - you can do it any time and it does you well - especially if you don’t get the chance to exercise.
And the flexibility… Well, that has many benefits.