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| My daughter took some pictures of me during one of our running times. Here is the warm-up. |
If exercise is a huge part of Stewarding Ourselves, how do
we start? What do we do?
Developing your own exercise routine is not nearly as hard
or complicated as you may think. Some
people may want to take the extra time and money to go to a gym with a personal
trainer, but I prefer to stay at home with my family and pocket the extra change! Being somewhat a do-it-yourselfer and a
self-starter helps, but anyone can upgrade their lives by moving a little more.
Take about 15 minutes to sketch out your exercise
routine. That’s probably about all it
takes to get moving! Remember the
principles of STEADY PRESSURE (work out consistently), INTENSITY (really push
yourself sometimes) , and VARIETY (don’t do the same thing every day; change your
routine up occasionally) as you plan your program.
1. Choose
your days to exercise. Three (3) times a
week is the recommended minimum, but if you can only get one in, that’s still better than none!
2. Choose your length of time. I recommend starting with
15 minutes and increasing 1 minute once every week or two, but make sure you tailor your schedule to your own exercise ability.
3. Choose your Aerobic exercise – choose your preference: walking, running,
cycling, rollerblading...even games with the kids will work as long as you choose something pretty active (soccer, tag,
basketball, etc.) If you have small
children, plan on playing games with them once a week.
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| A Friday Family Fun Run! We got to go to a park trail in Arizona, and the weather was delicious! |
4. Choose your Strength training exercises
You can choose bodyweight exercises (that’s
exercise using only your body weight, no machines or weights), dumbbells,
elastic bands, or even a big machine! I’m cheap, and I have very little room, so I
have a few hand dumbbells which I use only rarely. I generally stick to body weight
exercises. I figure that more than
likely more of what I do in real life will not require me to lift any more than
135 pounds!!
a. Think of the activities you do every day that
use the basic movements: push, pull, squat, bend, etc. Bending over and picking
up a toddler, for instance.
b. write down every exercise you can think of
that may help you do these movements.
Push – push ups, wall push ups, chair push ups, etc. Pull – pull-ups, pull downs, bent over rows,
etc.
c. write down every core exercise you can think
of – planks, sit ups, crunches, etc. (if you need some help, here are some great ideas)
d. take your list and choose one exercise from
each movement to do every day.
e. eventually, you can expand your workouts to
concentrate on one movement a day, varying movements every day push one day,
pull another, legs another, core another
5. Choose your stretching routine – SLOW is the
key!
a. Take your arms and legs and carefully stretch them to their capacity, hold that position for about 10 seconds, and then slowly return
to normal.
b. If you want to just free-wheel, you could
simply lay on the floor and stretch, rolling around and enjoying the feel.
c. For a more structured approach, Google “how
to stretch," or check out this article for some specific stretches and stretching tips.
6. Do it!
It sounds ridiculous to say it, but this last point is the very most
important! Just Do It! There is no bandwagon, only a faithful Stewardship
of Ourselves.
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| Happy Trails to you! |
God bless!
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medical disclaimer before following any sort of medical advice from LisaRaub.com
