Inactivity? Time to Get Up!

Do you lately feel the lack of energy, unknown muscle pain, weakness and that is starting to frighten you a little? What if I told you that inactivity can cause those symptoms. Physical inactivity is a rampant problem worldwide, with approximately two-thirds of the adult population not meeting minimum recommendations for physical activity and 68% of American adults classified as overweight or obese. Have you asked yourself what are the reasons? Well, while exercise may make people feel better afterwards, if they are not enjoying themselves, this could explain their lack of exercise participation.

An individual is considered to be physically active when they have been engaging in physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, three days a week for three months. Don't worry, small step at a time. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), moderate intensity aerobic exercise is reached once a person’s heart rate reaches 40-59% heart rate reserve or 64-76% of their age predicted maximal heart rate (220-age). When you start, those numbers can shock you. Because of the bad physical condition, your heart rate can be higher than expected for your age. Once you improve your physical fitness, those numbers will fall into place. But remember, exercise should be at an intensity that elicits an evident increase in heart rate and breathing. The individual should have the ability to comfortably maintain this intensity of exercise for an extended period of time (i.e., 45 min). Furthermore, moderate intensity exercise is well within a person’s capability for exercise, making moderate intensity exercise achievable for most individuals. Now all you have to do is to find the activity that will not represent the burden for you while doing it, but more of a ''can't wait to do it'' activity.

So, for example, aerobic exercise has been associated with a decreased risk of depression, stress, and anxiety, and improvement in mood, emotions, well-being, and affect.

Don't you think exercising will bring you energy, make you feel stronger, more confident, good-looking, but the most important thing, you will feel healthy!

Let's begin.
Task 1: Stop procrastinating, you know the time is now.
Task 2: Find exercise you would enjoy doing it.
Task 3: Take a slow beginning so you don't give up too fast.
Task 4: Be patient, results don't show up over night.
Task 5: Feel proud for making a progress.