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Five Principals for Workout Success
However you decide to fit activity into your daily or weekly routine, you can employ some basic strategies to help you exercise safely while you explore your own limits. Applying these five principles in your active life will reduce your risk of injury, burnout, and discouragement.
RULE 1: INCREASE YOUR WORKLOAD NO MORE THAN 10 PERCENT PER WEEK
This 10 percent rule of thumb is only a general recommendation. At this level, you'll probably find that once you've made the move from sedentary to even a little more active, and after the initial muscle soreness, if any, has worn off, you can increase your workload much more rapidly, at least for the first few weeks. The 10 percent rule becomes more important as you move on to more intense activities and the risk of overdoing it increases.
If you walk briskly for 20 minutes, three times a week, for example, and you want to increase to 30 minutes, add a few minutes to each walk for the next five weeks. Or you can increase the intensity of that 20-minute walk while keeping the time the same. If you walk 1.5 miles in that 20 minutes, a 10 percent increase would mean adding about an eighth of a mile to the distance covered in the same period. If you're keeping track of your steps, apply the same 10 percent rule to the number of steps you take in a given period to increase intensity, or to the total number of steps you take to increase the time you are active.
If you're cross-training, however, you'll have more latitude in this regard if you alternate activities that work the upper and lower body.
RULE 2: DON'T WORK OUT HARD MORE THAN THREE TIMES A WEEK
RULE 3: DON'T WORK HARD ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS
The "hard/easy" rule has by now been carved in metaphorical stone of the training canon. It takes time for the body to recover from a hard workout, and for most of us, 48 hours is the minimum. And bear in mind that as we age, it can take even longer than 48 hours. A hard day should be followed by a day of relative rest. If you're cross-training, a "legs" day running or cycling for example-can be followed by an "arms" day-swimming. This cross-training routine allows you to exercise more intensely, more often, while still respecting the hard/easy rule.
RULE 4: WARM UP THOROUGHLY BEFORE BEGINNING A WORKOUT
You should never go directly from rest into intense effort; a "cold" muscle is prone to injury, and this also puts stress on the heart. Stretch gently before beginning any moderate activity. Allow yourself at least 10 minutes to warm up; walk relatively slowly before increasing the pace to brisk; if you are going to run, walk first at an increasingly brisk pace, then break into a slow jog before increasing your running pace.
RULE 5: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
Ultimately, the key to success in an active life is to be mindful before, during, and immediately after a workout to note any symptoms that may indicate impending injury, burnout, or other potentially more serious problems, and then to take appropriate action. You need to "listen" to your body, in other words.
However you decide to fit activity into your daily or weekly routine, you can employ some basic strategies to help you exercise safely while you explore your own limits. Applying these five principles in your active life will reduce your risk of injury, burnout, and discouragement.
RULE 1: INCREASE YOUR WORKLOAD NO MORE THAN 10 PERCENT PER WEEK
This 10 percent rule of thumb is only a general recommendation. At this level, you'll probably find that once you've made the move from sedentary to even a little more active, and after the initial muscle soreness, if any, has worn off, you can increase your workload much more rapidly, at least for the first few weeks. The 10 percent rule becomes more important as you move on to more intense activities and the risk of overdoing it increases.
If you walk briskly for 20 minutes, three times a week, for example, and you want to increase to 30 minutes, add a few minutes to each walk for the next five weeks. Or you can increase the intensity of that 20-minute walk while keeping the time the same. If you walk 1.5 miles in that 20 minutes, a 10 percent increase would mean adding about an eighth of a mile to the distance covered in the same period. If you're keeping track of your steps, apply the same 10 percent rule to the number of steps you take in a given period to increase intensity, or to the total number of steps you take to increase the time you are active.
If you're cross-training, however, you'll have more latitude in this regard if you alternate activities that work the upper and lower body.
RULE 2: DON'T WORK OUT HARD MORE THAN THREE TIMES A WEEK
RULE 3: DON'T WORK HARD ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS
The "hard/easy" rule has by now been carved in metaphorical stone of the training canon. It takes time for the body to recover from a hard workout, and for most of us, 48 hours is the minimum. And bear in mind that as we age, it can take even longer than 48 hours. A hard day should be followed by a day of relative rest. If you're cross-training, a "legs" day running or cycling for example-can be followed by an "arms" day-swimming. This cross-training routine allows you to exercise more intensely, more often, while still respecting the hard/easy rule.
RULE 4: WARM UP THOROUGHLY BEFORE BEGINNING A WORKOUT
You should never go directly from rest into intense effort; a "cold" muscle is prone to injury, and this also puts stress on the heart. Stretch gently before beginning any moderate activity. Allow yourself at least 10 minutes to warm up; walk relatively slowly before increasing the pace to brisk; if you are going to run, walk first at an increasingly brisk pace, then break into a slow jog before increasing your running pace.
RULE 5: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
Ultimately, the key to success in an active life is to be mindful before, during, and immediately after a workout to note any symptoms that may indicate impending injury, burnout, or other potentially more serious problems, and then to take appropriate action. You need to "listen" to your body, in other words.