May 4th, 2007

If you have been inactive for a long time then it is very important that you take things really slowly at first and build up rather than rushing into a heavy routine straight away. Rushing into a heavy workout will do you more harm than good, remember that your body will need time to get used to your new routine and the exercise that you are expecting it to do. Warm up routines are also very important for anyone before you exercise, these can simply be marching slowly in place and stretching your muscles. Similarly you should always do a cooling down routine at the end of your exercise plan to cool down and relax your muscles to prevent aches and pains afterwards.

Forms of exercise suitable for the non-active person
Certain forms of exercise are more suited for those who haven’t been active in a long time and as mentioned before you should start slowly into any form of exercise routine and build up.

Walking
Walking is a great form of exercise which anyone can do and there is no special equipment needed, aim to take a walk for around 5 minutes a day to begin with then after a week try for around 10 minutes and slowly increase this over time or speed up the walking pace.

Water workouts
Water workouts are an excellent way to get fitter and healthier and increase your flexibility, your strength and reduce the risk of injury for those who haven’t exercised in a long time. There are two basic forms of water workouts, shallow water workouts and deep-water workouts both of which have different effects on your body. The shallow water workout can be done by those who cannot swim or are afraid of water and the deep-water workout will benefit and give the whole body a workout.

Stretching
Stretching can be done anywhere and requires no special equipment; yoga and tai-chi are two popular forms of stretching exercise that relaxes the body and mind and increase flexibility and improve the flow of blood.

Weight training
Weight training doesn’t have to be about lifting huge amounts of weights, lifting light weights can help to strengthen the muscles and bones. Weight training can be done at home or in the gym and if doing it a home then you can even use cans of soup as the weights.

Bicycling
There are special exercise bikes which you can use in your home or you can choose to bike outdoors, the home exercise bike is usually foldable and requires very little room to set up and use. Cycling is an excellent form of exercise for strengthening the leg muscles, back muscles and stomach muscles as well as improving the blood flow and your heart and lungs.

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