Exercise - Privilege or Punishment?

If you asked 10 people how much exercise a person needs, you are bound to get 10 different answers. I'm going to list some of the most reputable recommendations, and then add a few of my opinions as well. Feel free to comment on your experiences as well.

According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans:

• Adults need at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. Examples of moderately intense activity would be brisk walking, water aerobics, Pilates, riding a bike on level ground. With this type of activity, you are breathing harder than normal, your heart rate is up, and you are breaking a sweat.
• In addition, adults should do muscle-strengthening activities 2 or more days /week.

or....

• 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (e.g. jogging or running, riding a bike fast or on hills, playing basketball) every week. At this level, you are breathing a lot harder and your heart is beating a lot faster. You can probably only get out a few words without pausing for a breath.
• As well as 2 or more days of muscle-strengthening activities.

or...

• an equivalent mix of the two types above. (1 min. of vigorous activity ~ 2 min. of moderate activity).

Now in my mind, 150 minutes seems like a heck-of-alot and is a bit intimidating, especially if I am starting from a point where I've had very little or no exercise lately. One way to work up to this point is to try splitting each day's requirements into smaller increments of at least 10 minutes. For example, try to fit in one 15 minute walk in the morning and one in the evening, or 3 ten-minute walks during the day.

Another recommendation that I like was given from Oprah's famed trainer, Bob Greene. He recommends starting out by doing 15 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. After staying at that level for 2 weeks, increase it by 5 minutes, so that you are doing 20 minutes every day. Following the same principal, keep up the gradual increase, until you are comfortably doing 30 minutes every day.

You need to give your heart and your muscles some time to condition themselves, so push yourself, but don't try to be an Olympian at day 1! Try mixing in some vigorous exercise along with the moderate exercise, i.e. alternate 2 minutes walking / 2 minutes jogging for 12-16 min. You'll notice on many of the exercise machines that have pre-programmed routines, when you choose the "weight-loss" program, it will have you do intervals of low vs. high intensity. They will alternate between raising and lowering your heart-rate, giving your heart a chance to level out, and then increasing the speed and resistance to it get pumping again.

If you are consistent in your exercise, I promise you will notice results. If you are alternating walking with jogging, after a couple of weeks, you will get to the end of your 2-minute jogging interval and realize, "Wait, I don't have to stop, I can keep going!" and from then on your routine may be 2 min. walking / 4 min. jogging. Or you may be walking/jogging at your normal pace and suddenly notice that you're not having to work as hard and your heart isn't beating as fast. You'll have to raise the speed or resistance to get the same kind of workout that you have been getting before. It's an awesome feeling to feel your body's endurance and stamina increase, so pace yourself, but set goals and challenge yourself as well.

Here are a few more random tips:

• Find an exercise buddy! If you are accountable to someone other than yourself, you are much more likely to stick to your workouts. My friend and I have started meeting twice a week at 5:30 in the morning (eek!) at our church. We do different exercise videos together like Pilates and Tae Bo. If I were doing this by myself, there is no way I could force myself to get up that early, but because I know she will be waiting, it's much easier to get up and go!
• Alternate the muscle groups that you are working out, and give them a day in between to recover. For example, if you go to the gym and use all of the leg-strengthening machines, do arms the next day and give your legs a day to recover. You'll avoid injury and your muscles will be less tight and fatigued. I like to do this when it comes to vigorous vs. moderate exercise as well. If I run on Monday, it feels a lot better to do something more low-impact like a Pilates video or a bike or elliptical machine on Tuesday. Then my knees and legs are a lot more up to the challenge of running again on Wednesday.
• Listen to music or watch TV if you can while you exercise. It makes the time go by a lot faster! I have a hard time reading while I exercise, but I know that works for a lot of people as well. One thing I enjoy is to get a whole season of a TV show on DVD and then watch an episode each time I exercise. It keeps me engaged in the show and eager to watch again the next day. (My personal favorite is the show Alias. I've watched it through about 3 times. The main character is a kick-butt CIA agent Sydney Bristow, and I want to be tough and toned like she is!!!
• Try to think of exercise as a privilege or opportunity to burn calories, rather than as pure torture!! If you are having trouble fitting in the recommended requirements, fit in little bits, whenever you can, while dinner is cooking or if you are watching TV, drop down on the floor and do a few sit-ups or push-ups. Keep a set of small hand-weights nearby and do bicep curls while you are surfing the internet, reading or watching TV. There are stretches and small exercises that you can do while you are at work or sitting at a desk. Every little bit helps, no matter how small.