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Beginner Exercise Routine
If you can devote just 30 minutes a day to exercising, and maintain a
sensible diet, I guarantee that you will become leaner, stronger, and feel
better! You will start to see dramatic improvements in your body in just a
few weeks. You will lose weight, and have to go out and buy all new
clothes in a couple of months (I did).
Just remember - take it easy when you're starting out. Don't go
trying to run 10 miles your first day. Start out with light walking an
move up from there. See each section (cardio, strength training,
stretching) for details on these workouts - but here's how you get
started.
Here's what I recommend for the beginner:
- 5 minutes of light cardio: a warmup walk, for example
- 5 minutes of easy stretching. You don't want to stretch cold muscles
before warming up
- 15 minutes of strength training
- 5 minutes of stretching to loosen the muscles you just worked out
Perform the above routine 2 or 3 days a week, skipping at least one day
between strength training workouts. Do this, for example, on Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday.
On your days when you're not strength training, say Tuesday, Thursday,
and Saturday, those are cardio and stretching only days:
You can also give yourself one day a week (say Sunday) where you just
stretch. You don't have to do any exercising if you don't want to. Give
your muscles a day to rest. In fact, as you progress from beginner to
intermediate to advanced, you're actually going to give yourself more
rest between strength training workouts - but we'll discuss that later.
It's important to warm up the muscles first, then stretch them,
then do your workout, then stretch again. Stretching after your workout
is important. Muscles build up lactic acid when you work them.
Stretching helps to flush that acid and prevent soreness the following
day.
As you progress, add more time to your cardio workout, and more weights
to your strength training routines. We'll discuss each in more detail
under the specific sections. |
