AMBIANCE Tips to Stay on Fitness Track
1. Be reasonable. “Set some measurable, attainable goal,” said Dean Reed, a personal trainer at Elmwood Fitness Center. If you haven’t been active for a while, start a short-term goal, such as 15 minutes of exercise two or three days a week, and build from there, he said.
2. Get a new attitude. “You have to first change your mindset about the way you think about the quality of your life,” said Rovenia M. Brock, a nutritionist known as “Dr. Ro” to viewers of Black Entertainment Television’s “Heart & Soul.” According to Brock, people who live in denial about their activity levels and weight are likely to keep packing on the extra pounds.
3. Keep moving. “It can be any kind of activity, anything that you enjoy,” said Denise Hoffman, an exercise specialist at West Jefferson Fitness Center. “A little bit goes a long way.”
4. Make daily activities count, too. The idea is to get more movement into your life. That can include things that we don’t typically regard as “exercise,” such as pacing while you talk on the phone or doing leg lifts while the coffee is brewing.
5. Pound the pavement. Walking is a great exercise that you can do anytime. Walk for a few minutes in the morning, take the stairs instead of the elevator or walk to the store instead of driving.
6. Make time for exercise. Set your alarm clock back 30 minutes in the morning and use the time to exercise. Or make an appointment in your calendar to work out and respect it as you would any other commitment.
7. Be prepared. Lay out your exercise clothes at night so you don’t have to hunt for them in the morning.
8. Do your research. If you’re thinking of joining a health club, consider it as you would any long-term relationship, Moran said. “Some gyms are very serious, and some are very social,” Moran said. “You want to make sure that you pay your dues to a gym that you like. If you chose one that you don’t like, you’ll be one of the many people who drop out and pay dues for two years.”
9. Easy does it. People who want to see quick results from exercise may be tempted to overdo it, Reed said. It’s important to adopt a gradual approach to allow your body to adjust to exercise.
10. Do what’s comfortable for you. “If you hate to be on a treadmill, you’re not going to do it for more than a month or two,” Reed said. “If you don’t like to do weights, you can’t set up a program and expect to stick with it.”
.
