Countdown Activity 2 - Exercise
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kaliswalker
Posts: 1,171 Member
With Summer here are you ready to ease into exercise? Could you aim for 20 minutes of daily exercise to gain momentum and surge into the challenge. You can break it into smaller sessions if that helps, but don't mistake being busy for being physically active. You need exercise to have ease of movement, strength to do your daily activities, sleep better, be happier, and not age prematurely. Begin with the end in mind!
Resources - Dust off the scale, put your exercise clothes out where you can see them, pull out the runners, find the gym bag, wash and fill the water bottle, pump up the tires on the bike, find the activity tracker, pedometer, heart rate monitor, skipping rope, swimsuit, dog leash if you have a dog, take the clothes off the treadmill, find your Walk Away the Pounds video, check the exercise programs are at your gym, on TV, YouTube, find a Meetup group that walks, dances, or bikes. Just get out there.
Tip - put a pair of runners, jacket, umbrella and a hat in the car so you are ready to walk any time, any where.
Program - Plan on what exercises you actually will do. If you are just starting out aim for consistency; will you walk 20 minutes a day? If you have been exercising for a while can you challenge yourself to increase the intensity or time? Find exercises for upper, core, lower and whole-body exercises. Some household chores are classified as exercise too ie. vacuuming, cleaning the garage, etc. Look at chair exercises if you have mobility issues or to add additional exercise minutes while you watch TV. The professional trainers on YouTube are my favorite; so much variety, intensity and fun!
Some of my favorite YouTube exercises - HASfit, Body Project, Donovan Green and others. If I have been busy all day, sometimes I do a quick 5 minute chair exercise before bedtime. There are many to choose from. Also I can multi-task, follow an exercise video and watch a movie or listen to an audiobook at the same time. It helps if I have done the video before.
Look for some exercise items at the $ Store - dumbbells, kettle bell, resistance bands, a ball, and a skipping rope. It's an easy and inexpensive way to get started.
If you have physical limitations or time constraints be sure to do what is appropriate for you and know that all of us are doing the Challenge together at our own pace.
Resources - Dust off the scale, put your exercise clothes out where you can see them, pull out the runners, find the gym bag, wash and fill the water bottle, pump up the tires on the bike, find the activity tracker, pedometer, heart rate monitor, skipping rope, swimsuit, dog leash if you have a dog, take the clothes off the treadmill, find your Walk Away the Pounds video, check the exercise programs are at your gym, on TV, YouTube, find a Meetup group that walks, dances, or bikes. Just get out there.
Tip - put a pair of runners, jacket, umbrella and a hat in the car so you are ready to walk any time, any where.
Program - Plan on what exercises you actually will do. If you are just starting out aim for consistency; will you walk 20 minutes a day? If you have been exercising for a while can you challenge yourself to increase the intensity or time? Find exercises for upper, core, lower and whole-body exercises. Some household chores are classified as exercise too ie. vacuuming, cleaning the garage, etc. Look at chair exercises if you have mobility issues or to add additional exercise minutes while you watch TV. The professional trainers on YouTube are my favorite; so much variety, intensity and fun!
Some of my favorite YouTube exercises - HASfit, Body Project, Donovan Green and others. If I have been busy all day, sometimes I do a quick 5 minute chair exercise before bedtime. There are many to choose from. Also I can multi-task, follow an exercise video and watch a movie or listen to an audiobook at the same time. It helps if I have done the video before.
Look for some exercise items at the $ Store - dumbbells, kettle bell, resistance bands, a ball, and a skipping rope. It's an easy and inexpensive way to get started.
If you have physical limitations or time constraints be sure to do what is appropriate for you and know that all of us are doing the Challenge together at our own pace.
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When I wake up in the morning I can tell in general if my body can do a little bit of exercise, or more. On the days my body isn't as kind to me as I wish, do a lot of stretches and gentle walking. On days it'll allow me more, I still break my exercise into smaller amounts. When I write them out in a schedule I am way more apt to do them. If I try to "wing" it, less gets done. I DO want to increase my ST, I started to during the end of the Spring 5% Challenge, than the foot thing happened, there's no excuse why I didn't continue, putting that BACK IN for arm work. Though I am not on my feet yet much at all, I CAN do this!! Slow and easy, but NOT to easy! Youtube has a TON of sit down video's also. Online if you put in Sparkpeople chair exercises WOW LOOK
https://google.com/search?q=sparkpeople+chair+exercises&rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS979US979&oq=sparkpeople+chair&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i390.7255j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-85 -
I need to make a plan and get out the bed in the morning and actually do, not just think about it.
Life has been getting in the way.
For starters
I’m off a little later to deliver some church magazines on foot. I need to have a reason to do5 -
i have just finished a 30 minute walk. i will do another walk later on of about 30 minutes. later in the evening i will be doing some dancing for at least an hour.3
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Yes, I can definitely aim for 20 minutes of exercise every day. Sometimes, I find that I want to do more than 20 minutes, once I get started. But doing this every day is key. Thanks for the inspiration!1
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I am trying to do cardio (jogging or exercise video if weather doesn’t cooperate m-f. Saturday/Sunday are my make up day or rest day). 3 days a week of strength training2
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I try to always get in a minimum of 20 minutes a day. I tell myself that even when I don't feel like it, I can stumble out the door and take the dog for a walk--much easier in Texas than in Mexico where we had steep inclines and rainy seasons. HOWEVER, the heat in Texas is BLISTERING AND HUMID!!! I have to get to bed early to be able to walk before it's too hot, and Hubby and I are by nature night owls. He's out of town for 5 days, so I'm trying to get my body clock switched around while he's gone. LOL! Truth is that my body responds better to coordinated aerobics, etc. so I try to make myself do that and use the walking for a fall-back plan when I don't want to move. Everything always goes better if I can do my flat belly routine first (floor work, pure discipline), aerobics, and arm toners. How I need the latter, but it seems it's what always falls between the cracks. I like to do some light evening exercise, but I don't sleep well if I do it too close to bedtime. Strength training needs to be worked in there somewhere. Trying to get that into a habit while Hubby's gone, too.
I've started. BOTTOM LINE: Starting is the critical part. The rest can be tweaked. Here we go!!!4 -
Way back when, when I first joined sparkpeople, I did 10 minutes of exercise a day and thought I was doing great ! In actuality I WAS as I was prepping myself for when I would need to exercise in those 10 minute slots again later on in life, like right now. I just can't do a 30 minute walk at once, I CAN do 10 minutes, rest and then do 10 minutes, rest, you get it, right ? They key is the 10 minutes, or even as low as 3 minutes, add up and I have done something that eventually through out the day totals 60 minutes or more. When I can't walk, I can still do other exericses, chair or what have you, so there is always something I can and will do. l am so happy I learnt the 10 minutes of exercise, I have so greatly benefitted from that. If you have to aim small, remember that a lot of small gonna make something BIG !!
Bottom line: Make a PLAN of ACTION and ACTION the PLAN!!!
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I have found the days I do not want to exercise are usually the days I need it most!!
Some music helps...videos are great and oh yeah there is the great out of doors to be enjoyed !
Any movement is better than being planted on the sofa ..we can if we think we can!!
I think I can....do you??2 -
I'm back up north at our family farm house, so that means no community center fitness room with my beloved treadmill/air conditioning for daily jogs, and no swimming pool access. With the price of fuel, I won't be fouling the atmosphere and driving into town to the college rec center either. I definitely have to redo my fitness plan.
1. Do a strength/stretching video on Essentrics TV daily. (DH gifted me with a subscription, so I have unlimited access.
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2. Jog on the road, aim for 2 miles four days a week. (Low heart rate, my 80% easy runs)
3. Do speed work, HIIT on the local country high school track once a week. (my 20% hard runs)
4. Walk on the two days I don't jog.
5. Weed the gardens and lawn as often as energy and will allows!
6. I'll be aiming for 60 minutes of dedicated exercise 6 days a week.3 -
I need to work on making a new more organized plan. But right now I make sure to get my walk as often as possible. Weather permitting. Next I need to work on rescheduling and making a plan for my strength.2
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For me I know I have to do the same thing, same time, every single day. Then my brain just puts on my trainers and starts without me having to think about it or talk me out of it. Also: coffee.
I joined the gym but am struggling to figure out how I can make it a (nearly) daily habit and not over-do it.
I think maybe I will alternate elliptical / weight days (low-effort) with slow-walk on treadmill days. I probably can't spend much time at first, but it's a plan. I'll have to pick a time to leave the house by, and all that too. I usually take an evening walk, but most of my day I'm sitting in a chair.
I don't mind working out at home, but the last few years I've become so isolated that I was getting weird. I have my family, and I love them loads but it's not quite the same thing as having friends. My Dad passed away in January and we always gossiped about things and I've missed him quite a bit so my husband bought me the gym membership, which was expensive! I caught covid and haven't gone more than a handful of times and had a lot of trouble with asthma and health this year too, but I'll get on it and get my habit worked on. I can't over do it, but I think about it like a video game and "level grinding" haha, just gotta spend the time to level up to being able to put in more effort.
What I would like to do: oh' run marathons, master Yoga, maybe kick box....cycle 50 miles...my reality is like...slowly walk for 30 minutes. But everyday is a gift right?
Everyone in this group is so inspiring. I really hope I can contribute coming up.0 -
There is a pool here and I love doing pool exercises. It actually lets me feel like my legs are working when they don't work on land. I also work out at the gym at least twice a week. I have a trainer who keeps me on my toes.0
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I start the day on my recumbent bike and then do 20 minutes or so of PT and/or balance exercises. Three times a week I do a strength training work out at home, with my own weights. It’s time to change this up, I tend to get in a rut. We live in a community with an outdoor pool and a water aerobics class I love. We also have a green belt a block away, and many walking paths, so really no excuse not to get outside.0
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I'm pretty active - lots of road and Peloton biking. I've been a runner all my life but am having issues with my feet that I'm trying to resolve. Until then, it's biking and swimming, or other. I'm trying to do at least 20 minutes of yoga daily. I'm also taking some Peloton core body classes and want to keep that going too.1
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kaliswalker wrote: »take the clothes off the treadmill
This summer I have to work on creating an exercise plan that I can maintain in this South Carolina heat. When I was in NJ, and working, I went to the gym, showered and off to work. Now that I've "retired" and moved south, I have to adjust.
I've worked up to walking a 5K distance and am riding my bike on alternate days. I've started a good ST routine that I have to stay consistent with and build on. The exercise part of my health journey is what I really want to focus on during this upcoming challenge.
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I'm pretty active with my current martial arts, but I am keenly aware that I need to improve my cardio and my core strength, and could also stand to work on upper body strength. My pup is content to take short walks, but I want to either ease her into jogging with me, or maybe use dog walks as a warm up to a jogging session.
My friends and I will randomly message each other "plank break", so we stop whatever we're doing and do a plank for however long we can. I also sometimes do squats or side lunges while folding laundry. I could break out my resistance bands and "row" through a TV show.1 -
My husband and I start our days at 3:30 am during the week for work. We both finish up in the early afternoon for the day due to the earlier start, so it's easiest for me to fit in the daily exercise after work!
I pledge to do at least 20 minutes of exercise each day. Here are my options right now while we are still working to unpack from our move and organize our home!
Exercise Options:
20 min walk
20 min dancing session with my children
2- 10 min HIIT workouts on youtube
20 min of yoga
20 min of body weight strength videos
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My exercise for the summer:
lawn mowing/lifting the grass catchers is st workout
gardening: hoeing that is work 2xweek
walking 5 days/week
stretching min 3x week0 -
Exercise for summer
Walking
Strength exercise
gardening0 -
Yes, I plan to exercise every day (aiming at 60-120 minutes)! This summer, I will continue cardio, be more regular in strength training, and include more stretch/balance work (my weak point). I will also include the more strenuous gardening.0
