Get Started

Getting started is the hardest part of exercise especially if it is something you haven’t done for many years. Think about how your day works and how you can slip in the exercise without even noticing.

Here are some examples:

* If you normally drive to pick up the children from school, then you should consider walking, it will benefit your children as well as you.
* You could jog whilst vacuuming the house or stretch for five minutes whilst dusting. It will get your housework done and give you a workout at the same time.
* If you are going to be sitting in a meeting for several hours, go to the meeting room via the longest route and run the stairs several times before sitting down.
* In the evening, whilst watching the television, you can lift and lower your legs or tense and relax your stomach muscles several times.
* When everyone is out of the house, put some music on dance for 30 minutes -this feels great and is good exercise as well!
* Don't go out to a bar - go to a nightclub and dance
* Go rollerblading rather than walking on the weekend.
* Don't watch the kids in the pool, get in there with them.
* Sit in the bath and do stretches from side to side or scissor your legs together and apart using the water as weights - be careful not to splash too much!

Of course there are the more traditional methods of exercise which are still very valuable (joining a gym, going to exercise classes, playing sport, jogging, etc) but if you have tried all these and not found your natural form of exercise, don't be discouraged.

Set yourself a challenge to find the most unusual form of exercise you can, and do it for 30 minutes every other day. If you are the type of person who likes to follow sequences, get a DVD exercise of someone you like and admire. Gradually build up the amount of time you spend following the exercise routine until you can do the whole DVD without blinking.