Start exercising with the following simple steps

Those of you who have rarely or never exercised before may be confused about where to start. But whatever is your reason for starting to live a more active life, you should not immediately do strenuous or high-intensity exercise, such as lifting weights for example. Remember the adage, "little by little it becomes a hill", right? So here is a guide to starting a good exercise.

Build your motivation first

Initially you must have a commitment first to set goals for the sport that you will start. The reason is, research says that sports motivation combined with a real activity plan will be more successful in being realized.

An example would be writing down the activities you have planned for the next 4 weeks. Starting from what physical activity you will do, how long you will do it, and when you will finish doing it.

This activity plan will explain what you should be doing and let you see and analyze how much progress you have made after starting the exercise.

Then, how do you start exercising?

When you have trouble or don't know where to start, try talking to your doctor or health care professional about your plans for exercising. After that, start by incorporating more activity into your daily life.

For example, like a simple example below:

• When going to the office, try to choose to take the stairs instead of taking the elevator or escalator.
• If you are taking public transportation, stop at a bus stop or terminal some distance from the office. Cover the remaining distance on a leisurely walk.
• You can also take the time to go for a walk or just go up and down the stairs before and after lunch.
• During holidays, instead of just watching TV all day, you can do physical activities such as taking a walk in the park, trying to swim, or just jogging in the morning.

Sometimes small changes to your daily routine can help you become more active in sports. Instead of going straight to the gym or just a treadmill, try taking a leisurely walk or jogging around the neighborhood you live in first.

Gradually the body will also adjust to the activities you do. After that, then you can switch to heavier sports, such as lifting weights, or even freeletics though.

How long should you normally exercise? What can be done?

In accordance with WHO recommendations, it is recommended that you do this physical activity with moderate activity for 150 minutes per week. But if you want to do strenuous exercise, you can do it for 75 minutes.

During exercise time, you don't need to force yourself to exercise continuously. Try to split several sessions a day. Then, American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the following:

• Do 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, or do it for just 30 minutes every day. Can be done by cycling or brisk walking around the home environment.
• As for strenuous exercise, just do it for 25 minutes per day. Here you can exercise such as lifting weights, muaythai, or even play football or futsal.

Focus on one type of exercise first

Focus first on one type or one kind of movement that you want to do and don't be discouraged by targets you haven't yet reached.

As your fitness improves, you will succeed in performing various movements that you could not do before.

After that you can vary the types and different movements to get more benefits and at the same time avoid feeling bored. For example, you could add strength and flexibility training.

Do strength and flexibility training two to 3 days per week in addition to your main exercise.

Get friends or family to join you in sports

Sometimes, exercising alone is tiring and makes you feel discouraged for a long time. So in order to maintain the spirit that has been built up so far, invite friends or family members to work out together. Having a sports partner can make you more enthusiastic and maybe trigger a competitive attitude in yourself so you don't lose to them.

If you have trouble managing yourself, hire a coach or personal trainer which can help you carry out exercise regularly.

Get rid of the thought of weighing numbers. You have to remember, it's not about how low you weigh, it's about your health.

Things to do before and after starting exercise

1. Always warm up and cool down

Every time before starting to exercise, do a warm up first. Warming up aims to prepare your muscles and limbs for "forged" heavy work so they are not injured.

Likewise when you're done. Make sure to cool down and stretch your muscles every time you finish exercising so that your body will recover faster. Cooling is best done immediately as long as your muscles are still hot enough.

2. Do not wear sports clothes for too long

Don't linger on your sweat-soaked clothes. Immediately change your clothes and underwear when you finish exercising.

Clothes that are damp with sweat are ideal places for mold, bacteria, and germs to breed. You also become more susceptible to skin infections and acne.

3. Drink enough water

To replace fluids lost during your workout, don't forget to drink enough water. During exercise, your heart also works much harder so it needs more oxygen. So, you must immediately replenish your oxygen intake again through drinking water.

4. Eat healthy foods

Replenishing your stomach after exercise is something that is often overlooked, either because you are busy or because you are not hungry yet. In fact, eating after exercising is important to repair and rebuild muscles that have been working hard.

So, choose a diet rich in protein such as chicken, eggs, whole wheat porridge, fish meat, yogurt, milk, and cheese.

All your exercise plans depend on your intentions. Remember that living a healthy lifestyle like exercising is a habit, not an instant one that you will get immediate benefits for.

Over time, keep reminding yourself to maintain an active lifestyle and eat healthy foods to achieve your goals.

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