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Is your approach to exercise right?

In fact exercise is medicine and everyone should endeavour to engage in some form of exercise.I have heard on a countless number of times, patients talking about the pains and discomfort they feel after attempting to exercise.
Some people have even fainted during exercise sessions while others have lost their lives minutes to hours after they returned from their usual exercise regimes.

In all the cases cited above, the people were found to be doing something wrong. Their approach to exercise was wrong.

Exercise is good. In fact exercise is medicine and everyone should endeavour to engage in some form of exercise in order to prevent diseases and enjoy bountiful health.

The right steps in exercising should, however, be followed. This write-up will discuss some of the right ways to exercise.

Prepare well before exercising

At least have your blood pressure checked. Those with very high blood pressure can experience very serious health complications if they engage in rigorous exercises.

Some of them become breathless after exercise; some have intense palpitations, others feel dizzy and some even faint.

It is very sad to note that many Ghanaians can go so many years without having their blood pressure checked.

If you have not had your blood pressure checked this year, get it done now and know your status.

After your last meal, wait between 30 minutes and one hour before you exercise. If you hit the road immediately after a meal, you can vomit. Some people feel dizzy and end up very disorganised after the exercise regime.

Leaving some time after a meal before you exercise has proven to be the best way to enjoy exercise and come out very fine and refreshed. People who approach exercise this way are more likely to continue exercising for a long time.

Start slowly

There should be a slow start to exercise regimes. When you start slowly and make it more intense as the days go by, there is an allowance for the body to adjust well. This way you will be able to continue exercising.

Those who go running, jumping and jogging for hours on the first day of their exercise are likely to spend about one week recovering from the pains and aches that they will experience in their bodies. This has been a major put-off for most people.

If your optimal exercise regime requires that you walk briskly for 30 minutes three times a week but you have not exercised for about five years, it is better to start by walking for about 15 minutes two times in the first week.

Gradually increase the duration to 20 minutes and the frequency to three times by the second week. By the third week, you can exercise for 30 minutes three times.

Don’t look back

Those who exercise for some time and stop end up gaining more weight than their initial weight. Also, those who make lots of gains in their health apart from weight loss are likely to lose those gains if they stop exercising and revert to a sedentary lifestyle.

It is therefore best to continue doing whatever exercise you have decided to do. There should be no turning back. Choose an activity that you will be able to continue doing all the time; whether rain or shine.

Make sure you reap the benefits you intend to get from your exercise. Be reminded that starting and stopping along the way will not help you reap all the benefits.

Get to the max and reap maximum benefits, just as Jesus admonished in Luke 9:62; And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Know that you must continue exercising in order to stay healthy. Your exercise will not benefit anyone else but you yourself. So remaining lazy will only make you sick and unhealthy, thus having an impediment in your way of having a good life.

Get up, jog, run, swim, skip, or walk on the treadmill today because too many people are developing hypertension, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, and impotence just because they do not exercise.

By Wise Chukwudi/The Mirror/Ghana

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