An Exercise Strategy You Can Stick With

At a Glance

• Fitness can be divided into 3 broad categories: strength, flexibility/mobility, and cardiovascular fitness
• Assess your fitness level
• Set your fitness priority or priorities
• Pick one and only one exercise that addresses your priorities and commit to doing that exercise every day for 30 days. It only takes a minute. Add more exercises if you want but commit to only one when starting out.
• Find ways to add physical activity to your everyday life
• Add isometric exercises you can do anytime, anywhere

Is This Exercise Strategy For You?

Just because an exercise strategy or program is possible doesn’t mean it’s for everybody.

Because of my interest in health-related topics, my social media accounts are flooded with ads for new exercise programs that promise to whip you into shape with a killer body faster than you ever dreamed. I have spent far too much time watching their ridiculously long promotional videos or reading sales pitches of equally painful length.

You know how they go: “I had X problem until I discovered this awesome “secret” previously unknown to humanity. The results were so terrific for me that my friends asked me about it. Now I want to share my secret with the world to transform your lives.” The story (told without giving away many details) is followed by glowing testimonials from people whose lives have been transformed by following the program.

To be fair, many of these plans are valid. They are based on sound research and solid practices. If you stick with them, they should work. There is only one problem. They assume you are motivated enough to spend 20-60 minutes a day following their “simple” plan.

If you’re ready to jump into one of these complete programs, you can stop reading now because what I’m about share won’t apply to you. But if you have never been able to stick with exercise for very long, I hope you’ll read on.

The DS4H Exercise Strategy

Still with me? Great! Here, in broad strokes, is the Do Something 4 Health strategy for making lasting changes in your fitness. Will you make rapid progress? No. But if you follow the approach you’re about to read, you can slowly and steadily become more fit.

Better health is more a journey than a destination.

First, let’s lay the foundation for physical fitness.

For our purposes, fitness encompasses three main categories:

• Strength
• Flexibility/Mobility
• Stamina

Mobility is a combination of strength and flexibility. Simple tasks such as getting up off the floor, squatting, and sitting cross-legged become increasingly difficult as we age.

How to Get Started

• Assess your fitness level. Check out this post on how to test your functional fitness; your ability to do everyday tasks.

• Set your fitness priority or priorities. There are exercises that let you pursue multiple priorities at once. For example, burpees with a pushup can build strength and cardiovascular fitness. Which area of fitness (strength, flexibility, or stamina) needs the most work?

• Pick one and only one exercise you will commit to doing at least five days a week, preferably 7 days a week for the first 30 days to set the habit in your mind. Start by doing just one set of that exercise until you reach failure (you can’t do another rep while maintaining proper form) each day. It takes less than a minute. You can alternate days with different exercises. For example, you can do pushups one day and planks the next day. If you start feeling better and want to add other exercises, that’s fine. But make a commitment to just one at first.

• Find ways to add physical activity to your everyday life. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park farther away, use a push mower instead of a riding mower, and generally find ways of doing things that provide you with more physical activity. For example, when I cut firewood, I do at least some of the work with a manual saw.

• Add isometric exercises into your day every day. Isometrics tone and strengthen muscles through static contraction. A plank is a good example of this type of exercise. You can do some of these just about anywhere and nobody else will ever know you’re doing them.

Your Exercise Goals

Remember, the primary goal of this exercise strategy is to establish a habit of physical activity. You want to find ways to stick with this no matter what. Resist the temptation to overdo your exercises when you first start out. Don’t push yourself so hard that you get so sore you don’t want to move the next day. Take it easy, take it slow. You’re in this for the long haul.

I have been sitting on my butt in front of a computer all day. I’m going to get up and exercise now. I don’t know how much I’ll do. I’ll decide that after I get started. But I’m going to DO SOMETHING. I hope you will, too.