Training to train.

The most critical time for starting an exercise program and following a healthy life style is the first couple of months. This time can make it or end it. Most of the people that start out are motivated and ready to make it happen. They have goals and a strong desire to make changes that they have thought about for a long time.

The problem is they don't get proper guidance. They see written instructions and get advice from people who don't remember what it was like to be a beginner or worse still, never started themselves. The best advice I ever heard was take it easy and then slow down. You have to build slowly. Most people end up up sore and discouraged or even injured.

If you have been a couch commando for way to long then you have to go easy. But and this is a big big but, you have to do more than just warm up, the real building happens after your warmed up. Warmed up is when the body finally channels blood into the muscles. That increased blood flow is when the muscles can start doing their thing.

Warm up takes about 15 or 20 minutes, so if you exercise for 20 min, 3 times a week like a lot of programs tell you, then you never get anything but the warm up not the training. Even when you are just starting, walk easy for 15 to 20 minutes and when you begin to perspire you are warmed up and ready to train. After that warm up period then do your walking for another 20 to 30 minutes at a brisk but comfortable pace.

A person who has not exercised for years should never try running till they can comfortably walk briskly for an hour. By the time you can walk for an hour you have built up enough muscle to support your feet, ankles and knees. If you try running when you can't even walk briskly for an hour you will have problems.

Another area that is a problem when your starting out is your abdominal muscles. Your back will start hurting sometime during your start up period because your back muscles are stronger than your tummy muscles so the back has to do more than it's share of the work. Twists, turns, bends, leg raises and crunches are all good ways to strengthen your tummy muscles but like the leg muscles it has to be done slowly at first and then build intensity only after they are stronger.

Being a successful adult athlete is possible for the majority of people, regardless of how long it's been since you exercised. But the longer it's been the longer it's going to take to get fit enough to start doing quality workouts. Don't get discouraged, the time spent taking it slow and easy will mean the difference in making it and not making it.

Thanks for reading.

Rambling Panda