Where to Start?

So you are finally ready to begin your active lifestyle but don't know where or how to start!

The first goal is to be safe and injury free.  If you get hurt, you cannot continue.  If you have any questions about your safety, talk to your doctor.  Go in for your annual visit and see if you are healthy enough to exercise.  If you are unsure about how to use some of the equipment, talk to a fitness professional at a local gym.  Many gyms will give a free orientation of the equipment.

Next, there are 3 principles of exercise to keep in mind; overload, progression and specificity.

Overload is basically as it sounds.  Offer more movement, range of motion, tension, weight, repetitions, time, steps, more something than what you are currently doing.  This higher level of activity communicates to the body that more is being required.  This will produce adaptations.  Maybe more lean tissue or a stronger heart, but your body will change to improve its efficiency and capacity, and in turn health.

Progression is incremental overload.  After a while, your new higher level of activity must be increased again so that you can see more change and improvement.  Progression is done slowly for safetys sake.  Remember that just because everything feels fine during the activity, doesn't mean that you feel fine tomorrow.  With overload, you might feel tight or sore.  However, you shouldn't lose any functionality or have pain.

Lastly, specificity is crucial to getting everything out of your activity time.  For instance, if you want to increase your muscle tissue, you need to lift weights.  There is nothing worse than getting mentally prepared to workout only to have no results.  It actually maybe that you aren't looking at the right area for the results, but either way you want to be efficient.

I hope this helps.  Ask a question and I will be more specific for a personal goal.  199.8