Exercise Advice #96

I think a couple of weeks ago I made it to another level in exercise fitness.  I am doing more exercises, more sets and feel stronger.  I have the strength to do some exercises I never thought I could, or would ever do again.  I begin with the Total abdominal strength machine.   Then 35 minutes of rapid pace treadmill.  Next are leg lift extensions, followed by assisted chin ups.   Then it is horizontal bar pull ups and back stretches. Next are back extensions, some weight lifting, and a hyper extension abdominal crunch machine.  I finish off by doing some push ups and several reps on an ab-x machine.    Now the reason I listed all of this is when I began exercising it was 30 minutes treadmill, 15 minutes on an elliptical and walking one mile on an indoor track.   And that was more than enough, as I was only 5 months past having heart surgery.   Many of you are getting to that phase of recovery and rehab.  My best advice is when you begin exercising get yourself into a routine that you can stay with as far as your schedule and time are concerned.  That will be very important to you establishing exercise as having a specific part of your day and becoming a normal activity.  There will be many choices you can make as far as what basic exercises you begin with.  Again my suggestion is stay with cardio exercises such as the treadmill and elliptical.

After exercising I would drink a glass of orange juice and eat some grapes with either walnuts or sunflower seeds for a boost.  Occasionally I would make myself a banana, or strawberry smoothie.  I am not much for smoothie's being an effective part of weight loss.  So I gave those completely up.  After a month or so, but not long into it  I was ready to begin doing some exercises on strength machines. With my cardiologist permission of course.

The most important thing I have told you today is make exercise a strict routine whenever it may be.   Don't slip it in at different times of the day, or irregular days of the week.  You will find it much more difficult to develop a routine that you can consistently stay with.  As much as I enjoy exercising, it is still a chore and there are many times during the week I can find reasons not to go, or put off going until later.  I have to keep it in it's proper scheduled place to make it work for me.  Simply put it is just like changing your eating habits.  You must be committed to it and working to become heart healthy. 

Hey we got through the total carpet redo ordeal now Cindy is ready to start another project.