Creating Your Own Exercise Routine

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.

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.

Happy Trails to you!

God bless!



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