Today, we try to trick our mind towards regular exercise and I will also tell you the most important exercise of all.
To understand why we need to exercise, we have to jog back thousands of years.
Our usefulness was determined by what we could provide to society and community. Although we have mentally and socially evolved, our bodies have still not caught up.
Our primary role in society was to provide food to the community, traverse long distances hunting, climb trees to pluck fruit, gather berries, etc.
However in today’s world, we live behind a desk. We are sedentary and, therefore, we have to intentionally involve movement in our lives. As a bonus, it helps you reduce stress and sleep better.
MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY
The best workout plan is one where you can be consistent and to remain consistent you have to enjoy it and you have to remain injury free.
To enjoy your workout, you must pick an activity you like. Some people like going to the gym, some people like group classes, some people like going at it at the confines of their own home. Take your choice and stick with it
To be injury free, one has to careful not to get too ahead of oneself. Start out easy and build intensity over time. If on a day you are not feeling like a hard workout, its OK to clock back a little bit. It is not always enjoyable to have an intense workout.
Also, allow yourself enough time for rest and recovery in between your workout sessions. Remember: Consistency is the key.
DON’T OVERBURDEN
If you are starting after a long break or not mentally feeling like a workout, pick up something easy to do. Doing something is better than doing nothing at all. Start with something easy like stretching your back. Then if you feel like doing something else, then go ahead. Do not over burden yourself. Take it slowly.
BUILD ROUTINE
Build yourself an exercise routine. Pick a certain time and days of the week to workout. Stick to it come what may. Build yourself a routine around your workout schedule, like wearing some nice workout clothes or having a nice pre-workout meal. Stick to it. Repeat this again and again and again until it becomes a habit.
And, once it becomes a habit, just like you brush your teeth and have a shower you will not feel good without doing it. Exercise has to become part of your lifestyle.
SPECIFIC GOALS
Use your workouts for specific goals. Lift weights to get stronger, Do cardio to get cardio vascularly stronger, stretch to get more flexible. Do not exercise to lose weight. Remember, the only way to lose body weight is being in a caloric deficit.
Which brings us to the most important exercise of all, It is called ‘Put the fork Down’. This is the best way to get to a caloric deficit. Control what goes into your stomach if you would like to lose body fat!
(Dr Rohan Fonseca is a clinician and proprietor of Dr Fonseca’s Pathology Laboratory and Clinics, Panaji. A health and fitness enthusiast, he has started “drrohanfonseca”, a lifestyle and weight management clinic. Find him on youtube.com/drrohanfonseca)
