Lesson 4 helped to set up your exercise schedule for the week. This lesson has suggested activities that will help you to easily meet the cardiovascular recommendations.
What activities should you do?
I will suggest a few activities, and some ideas on how to accomplish them. Find what works for you, but choose something you WILL do. Maybe change it up every time so you vary the experience. Your body will love it, but your muscles will not be thanking you until they have adjusted. If you are not in the mode to be hiking up the stairs every morning, maybe a simple walk is for you.
Walk
This can be done anywhere, anytime. If you get an hour lunch break, spend 30 minutes and take a walk around the block. Do this before you eat and your metabolism will be greatly increased. Time yourself and count your laps. Keep track of these and try to improve them each time. This will increase your intensity and endurance levels. If you feel like you need a break you can sit for a short period, just remember to listen to your body and start out at your own pace. You could use a local high school track as well, or simply the neighborhood sidewalks every morning or evening.
If you have a dog or children, take them for a walk. Although you may think these walks are not helping, they are. Just not in the same way. Cardio allows you to exercise your heart and other muscles. Consistent stopping will not help your heart as much as regular aerobic exercise, but the walk in general will have benefits as it gets you up and moving.
Stairs
As you start feeling better and stronger you may want to try climbing stairs depending on how your body feels. This is simple, but may be difficult at first. Starting the first week, when you get to work, walk up one flight of stairs and take the elevator from the second floor to yours. The next week, walk two flights and so on getting your body in the habit of climbing stairs, while earning the exercise that the elevator robs from you. (I once heard you add 10 seconds to your life for every stair you climb. I figure, later in life I will buy a stair climber and use it to live into the eternities. HA!)
Bike
An easy way to get your 30-60 minutes of cardio is on a bike. This is probably the best exercise for your ankles and knees as it is extremely low impact due to the cyclic motions. Just go to a gym (easier said than done, but it will become habit easier than if you just buy one for the living room), sit down and pop in the ipod. The intensity level again can be altered to meet your level. Keep a record so you can see the improvement as it happens by recording length of ride, intensity levels, and distance achieved.
Summary
These are some simple ideas for starting. Try one and if you are not ready for it, try another. I do think that each one will have its own benefits, some more than others. Just because an idea does not sound appealing, don't write it off, it may be the one that has the greatest results.
It is not normal to be moving all day, but some time set aside is crucial to the success of your goals. Something is better than nothing. Look for lesson 6 which will discuss how you can determine the intensity of your workout.
