An active life means angling to be the lucky one who walks the video back. Remember "No Pain, no Gain"? Well, times have changed. With exercise today, if it hurts, you're doing something wrong. Here is how to transform painlessly from sofa slug to super fit.
Go Slow
If you consider anything more stenuous than taking a shower just too athletic, you know you need to start exercising slowly. Infact, everyone not already indulging in regular activity should start slowly, say, with a 10-min brisk walk every day for the week. Increase the time by no more than 20 per cent each week until you feel fit enough to tackle some other challenges.
Set Realistic Goal
Experts will tell you to make your goal wellbeing instead of numbers on a scale or tape measure. But for those of us who just love to measure things, measured goals are fabulous for encouragement. So, go ahead. Sit on the floor and measure where your fingertips are in relation to your toes. Measure how many push-ups, and stomach crunches you can do. And measure howlong it takes you to walk 3km. You should see the first big change after two months.
Make a Date with a Friend...
Often, it's as easy to gossip during exercise as it is over a capuccino. Make an unbreakable date with a friend to walk for an hour or two once a week, or every morning for less time. You'll both be more likely to stick to the routine. The only loser - your erstwhile cafe proprietor and the person who bakes her irresistible lemon poppy seed cake.
....or a Lover
Add a sexual aspect and really see those benefits take off! Couples who exercise also report having better sexlife. *sorry this is a little something - anyway you guys are adult so don't take it as a trauma*
Spend a week at a Health Resort
The real advantage of this option is the launch it provides into a new lifestyle. Choose a venue with a focus on physical activity, such as Thailand's Chiva Som or the Banyan Tree, Phuket, Boracay. You'll be fired up like a convert and the religious fervour should take you all the way to fabulously fit, even when faced with the slacker temptations of your usual life.
Take up a Team Sport
Not letting the team down can be great motivation to keep building on your fitness level. But make sure that you are match-fit for the game you choose, or you'll just hurt. Soccer, for instance, is a real pain in the legs if you dont have the heart for all that running. But it is possible to perform with lower levels of fitness in basketball, netball, softball and volleyball as you work up strength.
Choose to Move
Even more important than conventional exercise are the opportunities for activity tucked away in the flurry of the everyday. Angle to be the lucky one who gets the coffee, walks the video back, gets up to change the channel, hangs the clothes out, sweeps the path, climb the stairs, pulls out the weeds.....errr a chores!
Reward Yourself
It's amazing how even shopping improves once you can look in a change-room mirror and admire the line of your biceps, the more curve of your shoulders, the flat plane of your belly. But don't forget to look for the reward that emphasizes your real achievement - an active competent body. Take up a wild challenge, something you never thought you could do. Because now, you can do anything.
