What is a healthy exercise regimen?
Well, it depends. Where do you stand on your health journey? What types of injuries are you suffering from or have in the past that you still feel? What are your health goals?
These all come into play when deciding what to do for exercise. And how much. And at what intensity.
The most common complaint I get from people is that they feel they can’t stay motivated OR they don’t know what to do.
Regardless of the answers to the questions above there are a few things someone can do (regular or modified) on a daily basis to help with staying on track.
- Make a decision. Decide what you want and more importantly WHY. Write it down.
- Look at your schedule and see where you can honestly fit in workouts / movement time. Book it.
- Sweat every day. You don’t need to run miles and miles every day (unless that’s a huge love of yours) but it’s super important for the body to detox each day and sweating helps that process. Usually if you are sweating your heart rate has been elevated and this is perfect for that beautiful muscle. Re-hydrate with water and have a little Himalayan pink salt to put the magnesium, sodium and potassium back in that you just lost.
- Try different movements until you find 2-3 you really enjoy. Maybe it’s Zumba class. Maybe it’s yoga. Maybe it’s running. Maybe it’s swimming. Have a couple that you like enough to do 2-4 times a week regularly. And then just add in activities that move your body and are safe for you personally. Like, playing with your kids, going for bike ride, dancing in your kitchen to some music while you put dishes away. Doesn’t matter.
- Commit to the following 4 exercises daily or every other day depending on your goals and schedule:
- Push ups
- Planks
- Squats
- Lunges
What if you’ve never been able to do a push up in the past?
What if you have a long-standing knee injury and lunges just don’t work for you?
Then you need modifications for these but you need to try a variation and do that for 30 days. Then, reassess.
Push up Modifications: on knees on the floor, On a counter or on a wall. Focus on form.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrmG3Kq7fPE
Plank modifications: on knees on the floor or one leg down. Or use an exercise ball / balance ball. You can also use the side of a couch or counter. Again, focus on form and work up to 60 seconds at a time.
Squat modifications: Using a resistance band and doing a couple different exercises to compensate for avoiding the squat: 1. lateral legs and 2. leg extensions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Yz3QhJvCg
Lunge modifications: Do donkey kicks or bridges. These are AMAZING and I actually prefer them for most clients because there is no strain on the knees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9K9aScXMoc
How many should I do?
A good idea is to always work up to what you consider your “Daily Dose”. Ideally, most people work up to 3 sets of 15 for squats/lungs/push ups and 60 second planks….remember this is daily. Some people do 3-4 30 second planks. What’s most important is that you do what you feel your body responds well to and then in 30 days, reassess and add some features to the exercise that make it a bit harder or use your muscles in a different way. I’ll blog about that next month.
KEEP TRACK!
You can use your phone to track in a variety of apps or you can simply write it down, but no matter what – keep a log. I tell clients to make note of how they feel before, during and after a workout / daily exercises. This way you can have something to consistently measure.
Now get moving! I believe in you 🙂
