We know the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet and exercising can help us to look after our heart and ward off heart disease and other major illnesses. Having a daily exercise plan will also leave you feeling less tired and stressed and can also make you feel happier.

Research has shown that people suffering from depression have felt a lot better when taking some form of activity on a regular basis. Exercising not only makes you feel good but also makes you look good, it helps to tone and strengthen muscles which will improve your posture and help burn body fat.

Your health in the long term

Benefits to your health in the long term are numerous, exercising for as little as 20 minutes per day 5 days a week will reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and the development of diabetes. It can also have a positive effect on people who suffer from high blood pressure, often helping to bring it lower.

Exercise such as walking can help you reduce the risk of developing brittle bones later in life and help with problems such as constipation, menstrual problems and pre menstrual problems.

All-round fitness

An all-round fitness plan would involve three areas, aerobic exercise and flexibility exercises and strength exercises.

Your health can be improved by developing your aerobic capacity, aerobic exercise is basically any exercise that raises the rate of your heartbeat and makes you sweat slightly, for example a brisk walk or jogging.

The aerobic system is your heart, lungs, muscles and blood vessels. Your capacity is based on how well your body can deliver oxygen to the muscles and how much oxygen they use for energy.

Exercising on a regular basis for a specific time and level will help you to increase the ability to take in and use oxygen while exercising. This will then improve your aerobic capacity.

How to improve your aerobic capacity

This can be achieved by exercising for about 20 minutes per day 3 times a week at an intensity that is within your training zone. Your training zone is calculated by subtracting your age from 220, this will give you your maximum heart rate.

You then multiply this number by 65% the number you get is the number your heart rate should stay when you are exercising aerobically.

Exercise machines in gyms will have a built in heart rate monitor but if you are exercising at home then you can purchase a pulse rate monitor cheaply. These are often in the form of wrist bands or chest bands.

Working out doesn’t have to take over your life, in today’s world everyone seems to be rushing here and there and making the excuse, I haven’t time to work out. Exercising can take as little as 20 minutes per day and if done on a regular basis results can be seen in both your appearance and health.

There is no need to go to a gym, you can exercise in your own home and inexpensive equipment can be purchased for use in the home.

It is always important that you start out with a warm up routine before exercising, this is needed to help prevent cramps during your routine and a cooling down period is also needed after your routine to allow the muscles to relax slowly.

Warming up and cooling down

This can be jogging on the spot slowly or stretching and bending exercises, remember to stretch your calf muscles, hamstrings and quads. The warm up should last about 5 minutes and it plays an important role in the workout plan.

A cardiovascular workout

There are many ways you can do a cardiovascular routine, for example using an exercise bike, jogging on the spot or skipping. These are all excellent forms of working the cardiovascular system; the effects of the cardiovascular workout can be increased by alternating every 2 minutes from moderate to harder effort but bear in mind to only exercise to your ability and don’t over do it.

If you are only just starting on your exercise regime then you could change this and do mild to moderate every 2 minutes instead. It is important that you don’t push your body too much too quickly as this can lead to soreness and possible injury.

It is just as important to cool off after every exercise routine and this can be done the same way as you did for warming up with stretches.

A cross training workout

If you don’t have much time to exercise then you can do what is know as a cross training workout, this workout will enable you to workout with various equipment and exercise different muscle groups.

The main advantage this type of exercise has to offer is that your exercise routine never gets boring and is an excellent way to exercise many muscle groups.

Warming up is still as important then you could include such exercises as walking on a treadmill, stepping, rowing and cycling, spending about 5 minutes on each piece of equipment. Remember to cool off with gentle bending and stretching.

A strength training workout

A strength training workout includes squats, lunges, inner and outer thigh exercises, bicep curls and press-ups. This type of workout increases your heart rate and tones your muscles at the same time; exercises of this type are normally done in repetitions and sets. Again it is important to warm up beforehand and to cool down at the end of your routine.

Any of the routines above should only be undertaken if you are generally in good health if you have any major health problems then the advice of a Doctor should be sought before starting your particular training plan. If at any time during the routines you feel unwell or have any pain then stop immediately.

Many of us at times feel we should do more to get fit and often we will go on an exercise crusade and rush into exercising like crazy for a few days only to get bored and give in again, but exercising this way can do you more harm than good.

A recent study was drawn over two years and tracked three million people who used a gym to workout, the study tracked how often the people used the gym and found that out of 70 fatal heart attacks that occurred during training or just after training over half of these were people who exercised less than once a week on a regular basis.

The research concluded that people who work out only occasionally are therefore at a slightly greater risk of having a heart attack relating to exercising vigorously on odd occasions.

Should we give up on strenuous exercise?

Common sense should be used, it is obvious that exercising strenuously if you are a complete beginner and haven’t exercised much over the past years is not the best way to start out.

If you are just starting out on an exercise plan then do it slowly don’t expect to jump right in and be able to run three miles or lift heavy weights straight away, your body obviously won’t withstand it.

You will only gain benefit from any exercise plan if the exercise plan is undertaken on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter how many sit-ups you do at one session, you will not get fitter if you only do them once a week.

Fitness experts recommend that for exercise to have any benefit on our bodies then exercise routines should be done at least 4 days out of 7.

This doesn’t mean of course that you have to spend hours each day for those 4 days exercising, gentle exercise and everyday activities such as walking the dog count towards exercise.

You have far more to gain from making exercise a part of your weekly routine than you do working flat out for two hours only once a week or less.

Don’t go flat out at your first session

Having decided to take the first steps towards a fitter you many of us will get carried away during our first session at the gym or exercise routine at home and be tempted to try and make up for time lost.

But remember it doesn’t work this way, steady and slow at first is much better and always remember to start off with warm up exercises before starting the main workout and just as importantly cooling off exercises when you have finished your routine.

Many gyms offer beginner classes for those first starting out with a fitness regime and it is worth joining one of these at first and then progressing slowly up through the ranks.

Not only will you be doing your body a favour by easing slowly into the routine but also you will be working out alongside like minded people and won’t feel pressured by seeing the guy next to you doing 100 sit-ups or lifting enormous amounts of weights.