How To Find an Exercise Program that Works for You

Exercise is a must for everybody; we all know this. You can get livelier, stronger, sexier and healthier with proper diet and regular exercise.  However, even if you know that you have to do it for your body’s sake, there are may be a lot of reasons why you cannot get up and start. You lack information. The fact is there are any number of ways to exercise and, there is one exercise regimen suited to you.

So how do you get started? The following checklist will guide you on how to exercise without quitting.

1.    Results. Know what results you want to achieve. The following effects are the most common reasons why we exercise:

• Lose weight
• Gain weight
• Have 6-pack abs
• Gain muscles
• Feel more energetic
• Medical purposes (health reasons such as regulating blood circulation and heartbeat, decreasing cholesterol level, etc.)

2.    Time. Since this is the most famous excuse why fitness is neglected, you must evaluate your time and see how you can put exercise in your life. The following outline can be helpful:

• Make a daily activity chart - the period can be one or two weeks. You should list here all the things you do per hour.
• Review the chart and highlight the time that is not one of the following: sleeping, actual work, family time and at least 30 minutes eating.
• If there is a physical activity included such as sports, hobbies or regular leisure games, you must take note of this. This can be used as your actual physical workout already. You just have to add more time, effort and focus.  For example, you just spend thirty minutes on your sports two or three times a week, you should increase this to three to four times weekly and at 45 minutes. Do not force yourself to reach one hour instantly. Do it slowly but surely.
• If you have no physical activity at all, you can focus on the in-between activities. Some examples are walking to and from two different destinations, parking your car farther and even by simply using the stairs regularly.
• You can also increase free time by reducing the time of eating during lunch breaks and head to the nearest gym. You can use the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes daily. Your hours of sleep must also be evaluated. Sometimes the pre-sleep (time between getting to bed and time you actually close your eyes and sleep) takes long also, especially if you have insomnia. This time must be spent in exercising instead.

3.    Personality. You need to analyze if you work best with a team or alone. Does it motivate you more if you are with someone, or do you just spend the time chatting and forgetting the exercise? Do you feel insecure if other people are looking at you?

4.    Gym or sports. Are you a competitive person who enjoys winning? Or do you celebrate every time you beat your own record in the gym? Neither thing is actually right or wrong. You just have to know if you are better suited to sweating it out in the gym or playing outdoors with a Frisbee, biking or swimming.