Start Small with an Exercise Fast Break

While starting small helps you to avoid burnout when it comes to eating healthy, it also helps to avoid blowout when it comes to fitness. When you decide to start a fitness regimen, it’s easy to think you can just pick up right where you left, regardless if it was two weeks ago, two months ago or even two years ago! Unfortunately, fitness does not work that way. In fact, trying to jump right back in can be dangerous.

Whenever you work out, the muscles in your body break down and then repair themselves. The more active you are, the easier and less painful this process becomes. But when you jump right back into a workout routine after a long absence, your muscles are not prepared. It will take awhile for the body to recover from pressing too hard and one feeling will result – major soreness (a little is okay, after all).

By starting small with a fast break, you ease your body back into the routine of exercise without the pain (or at least not as much). And don’t feel like you are a wimp because you are starting small. By establishing a solid base, your body will soon be ready to roll and adding more difficulty to your workout will be easier than you think.

So what are effective yet simple fast break ideas? Here are some possibilities:

• Walk every day for 15 minutes
• Get 8 hours of sleep every night (good for energy)
• Stretch every morning
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work
• Skip a TV show and go outside instead
• Do push-ups or sit-ups for one minute (as many as you can)

Courtesy of: SparkPeople.com