Most people who exercise prefer to do it on their own. If you also work out at home, outdoors, or in the park, make sure you’re doing everything right.
Not Following Technique
Doing the exercises correctly is important-the only way your workouts will be effective and safe. For example, standing in the plank should be straight, without arching the back, otherwise you can damage the spine.
There are also anatomical peculiarities, injuries and diseases that require correcting the technique or choosing another type of activity. For example, it is not recommended to do dancing if you have severe scoliosis. But you can try yoga, stretching and moderate strength training, which your doctor will approve of.
It’s better to take a few classes with a trainer to master the correct technique. You can work out online, via Zoom or Skype. The main thing is to put the camera so that the trainer could clearly see each movement and could direct you. Then you can train on your own, in front of the mirror, to monitor the position of the body.
It’s worth choosing a suitable coach. This person is pleasant to talk to and competent in the area of interest to you. For example, a person with injured knees will suit a specialist in biomechanics or the recovery of athletes with a similar injury. And of course, you don’t need to have everything in common with your coach. For example, if he is a Casino Chan fan, you don’t have to start gambling to get closer to him.
It’s better to choose a trainer by experience and specialization, rather than by appearance. Sometimes they are not in the best shape because they are recovering from an injury, study fitness more from a scientific point of view, or focus on client success.
Starting With Challenging Workouts Without Training
Difficulty is invigorating, but strength and endurance are better trained gradually-so there’s less chance of overexertion, injury, and loss of motivation. It’s hard to keep your morale up when you can’t do anything and everything hurts.
At the beginning of training, doctors recommend measuring your baseline indicators, such as flexibility and heart rate. In this way, you can understand what your body is capable of right now: what loads are not yet feasible, and which ones are quite suitable. This will help you keep track of your progress.
It’s better to do a test workout and measure your heart rate before and after. It’s easy to measure your heart rate with or without a tonometer, smart watch: put your index and middle fingers on the carotid artery in your neck. When you feel the pulse, take 15 seconds and count the contractions. Multiply that number by four-that’s the heart rate per minute.
Most healthy adults have a resting heart rate of 60 to 100 beats. During training, it will increase, the allowable maximum can be calculated by the formula “220 minus age”.
It’s worth focusing on endurance. Ideally, monitor your heart rate during your workouts. If you notice that your heart rate is too frequent after a run, try running slower next time.
How you feel is important. If you feel in yourself the strength to do five more push-ups – do it. If it’s too difficult to do, change the set of exercises.
Consult your doctor. If you have asthma, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases, find out which workouts are advisable and safe for you. It may turn out that some sports are not suitable for you at all, while others are very useful.
Staking on Exercise Equipment
If there is no goal to build muscle, you can exercise without them – using your own weight and simple equipment: a mat, dumbbells, an expander. For greater efficiency you can hold yourself for a few seconds in a state of maximum muscle tension, pushing up or squatting.
Start with a basic gym kit: mat, yoga blocks, dumbbells, resistance bands.
The most practical purchase is a universal mat, suitable for both yoga and fitness: medium thickness, easily rolled up and does not unroll itself. Choose models made of TPE, a pleasant to the touch material – lightweight, elastic and durable foam.
Skipping the Warm-up and Warm-down
Warming up prepares your body for exercise and reduces the risk of injury. And a warm-up helps bring your heart rate and blood pressure back to normal, to the level they were before the exercise. A sudden stop can lead to dizziness and sometimes to fainting.
Allocate 5-10 minutes before the workout and do neck, shoulder, arm, hand, body, warm up your knees and hips. The point is to make all the joints and ligaments work, the blood flow to the muscles increases, the body temperature rises.
A warm-up consists of gradually decreasing the load during the last 10 minutes of the workout. For example, to complete the run, switch from running to brisk walking, then to normal walking and gradually slow down to a complete stop.
Repeating the Same Workout
Even the most intense workout can get boring if you do the same exercises all the time. In addition, our muscles eventually get used to the load – and the exercise ceases to be fruitful.
It’s better to alternate activities to vary your sport routine: jogging today, weight lifting the next time, then stretching, followed by functional training.
The American Heart Association recommends:
- Devote at least 2.5 hours per week to moderate exercise. If the workout is intense, 75 minutes. Over time, you can increase your workouts to 5 hours per week.
- Exercise at least twice a week to strengthen your muscles.
- Do not deprive yourself of activity on days when there is no workout. Even light exercise – a walk or exercise – reduces the risks of a sedentary lifestyle.