Stay Safe When Keeping Fit

There are many benefits that you will experience when you begin to take regular exercise. You will look younger, feel younger, have more energy and increase your chances of living a longer life. However, if you have not done any form of regular exercise before or you are starting out again after a long lay-off then, you need to approach it in the proper way.

The proper way is to start off slowly and build up your body strength and stamina gradually over a period of time. A good way to start is by walking. Taking a brisk walk for 20 or 30 minutes a day over a 4 week period is a great way to get started. In the first few days you will commonly experience soreness and tightness in the muscles. This is a sign that the muscles are being worked. This is nothing to worry about as the pain will subside after a few days. It is not advisable that you overdo it in the first week or so as for some people the aching muscles can discourage them to continue on. As you continue with your exercise gradually increase the intensity of the exercise to build up your strength and stamina.

When you exercise is not that important however, it is not advisable to work out before you go to bed as this can interrupt a good night sleep. Alternatively, it is not advisable to eat after a meal as the body directs blood flow to the stomach area to help with the digestion of food. By exercising you will divide the blood flow which can cause stomach cramps due to undigested food. The best way is to experiment with the time you do your exercise because a time that works for someone may not work for you.

When you are doing your workouts it is very important that you get in to the routine of doing a warm up before and a cool down after you exercise. By doing this you will decrease your risk of getting a muscle strain or injury. The warm up will help to increase the blood flow to the muscles in order to prepare it for the strenuous activity ahead. The cool down session enables you to slow your body's heart rate down. For example, if you are running hard then you can cool down by doing 3 minutes of gradually slowing down the pace until you stop.

Always seek a doctor's advice if you have a medical condition before doing any form of new exercise.

With over 2 years experience as a freelance writer, Tim Bose writes on topics he is passionate about.