Guidelines for Getting Active

John Marsden, senior physiologist with the NSW Institute of Sport gives some advice on getting active.

Becoming active or more active is about modifying your lifestyle. Unless you are extremely disciplined it is unlikely that you will succeed in accomplishing everything you want to do but following these guidelines will help you on the path to a more active lifestyle.

1) PLAN

a. Plan a date to begin your exercise. You need a little time to move your current lifestyle around to accommodate the time spent on activity. Make the start day a significant day and one that is not likely to be disrupted by other priorities.

b. Plan a time of day that suits. Are you going to get up 30 minutes earlier? Are you going to move dinner 30 minutes later?

c. Plan the activity to be done BEFORE you do something else you normally do. Before breakfast, before lunch or before you turn on the television.

2) WHAT ACTIVITY SHOULD I DO?

a. Choose activities you will enjoy. Remember, the enjoyment may be about the people you are participating with.

b. Choose an activity you can achieve:
i. Physically - Olympic gymnastics looks great but is a poor choice for all but a few!
ii. Time-wise - golf is only a good choice if you have hours to dedicate
iii. Access - to facilities, equipment and/or programs required for your activity. If the only ice skating rink is 15km away you are not likely to participate regularly.
iv. Financially - be aware of the cost of equipment, membership etc.

3) GOAL SETTING

a. It is important to set goals for your activity. These goals may be based on:
i. a points system (see later section)
ii. participating in some event
iii. change in physical shape

b. Your goal MUST be realistic and achievable

c. Evaluate your progress on regular occasions

It's about changing your lifestyle.

Don't beat yourself up if you don't achieve everything you set out to do.

IT IS BETTER TO ACHIEVE 50 PER CENT OF SOMETHING THAN 100 PER CENT of NOTHING

Principles of Exercise: Part 1

There are four types of exercise you need to consider in you program:

1) Cardiovascular Fitness

a. Activity that enhances the function of your heart and lungs and your bodies ability to supply energy to working muscles.

b. This type of exercise includes any continuous activity that will raise your heart rate for an extended time - walking, running, riding, swimming, paddling a canoe, playing tag with your children.

2) Muscular Strength

a. Activity that make your muscles able to exert more force - lift/move heavier objects, perform everyday tasks with more ease.

b. This type of exercise includes any activity that requires your muscles to exert force against a resistance - bodyweight exercises, working with exercise rubber bands, lifting weights.

3) Postural Stability

a. Many of the muscles in the body function to maintain your posture during different actions - sitting, standing, walking, lifting. Postural stability exercises help you to make sure you are able to control these muscles.

b. Exercises to enhance this function include strengthening and mobility exercises for your back, abdominal and pelvis region, shoulders and neck.

4) Flexibility

a. Flexibility exercises help maintain the range of motion in your joints.

b. There are two types of flexibility exercises, static stretching where positions that lengthen muscles are held and dynamic stretching where actions are taken to their end of range in a controlled manner.

Goal Setting Points

Cardiovascular Fitness

Walking (about 4 km/hr) -- 1 point per kg per 15 min
Slow jogging (about 6 km/hr) -- 1 point per kg per 10 min
Fast jogging (about 10 km/hr) -- 1 point per kg per 6 min
For uphill multiply points by 1.5
Playing sport -- 1 point per kg per 7.5 min
Bike Riding -- 100 points per 5 km
Swimming -- 25 points per 100 metres
Gardening -- 1 point per kg per 15 min

(per kg = per kg of bodyweight, therefore a 70 kg person gets 70 pts per 15 min walk)

Add 50 points if you exercise with another person.

Strength Training

Choose anywhere between 5-10 exercises and complete 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions. The load, resistance and/or weight should be one that is making you work through the last 3-4 repetitions but you should still be able to maintain the correct exercise technique. The load should never become too heavy to lift.

Score 1 point per repetition

Postural Stability

Choose a selection of exercises that includes the shoulders, back, abdominals and pelvis.

Score 1 point per repetition

Flexibility

Choose a selection of exercises that includes the ankles, hips, back and shoulders. Develop a routine that starts at one end of the body and work your way through to the other end.

Score 5 points per minute of stretching

Setting your Goal

1) Set the number of points per day you aim to achieve. Table 1 provides a guide.

Your goal	Starting off	The next step	Been doing it for a while
Pts per day	150-200	300-400	500 plus

2) You should obtain points from each of the four areas during the week.

3) You can make one area more of a priority depending on your specific requirements.

4) You can combine activities from different areas in a single session.

5) You can collect points during the day for activities that may only take 5 minutes; for example: after sitting at your desk for an hour stand up and stretch for 5 min (there's 25 points!!)

Easy Points

Every morning when you get up, BEFORE you do anything else go through a short routine:

Put a smile on your face: 5pts
Feet apart, arms by sides, deep breath in as you raise your arms to touch backs of hands above head, breathe out as you lower your arms, repeat 5 times: 5 pts
Stretch to the roof with your right arm, then your left, repeat 5 times: 5 pts
With your feet still apart, left arm over you head, slide your right hand down the side of your leg, repeat to the opposite side, repeat 5 times: 5 pts
Put your left foot on the edge of the bed, wrap your arms around your knee, pull your knee into your chest (lifting the foot off the bed if you feel stable enough to stand on one leg), repeat with opposite leg, repeat 5 times: 5 pts

There's 25 points before you leave the bedroom!!

Four Week Introductory Training Program

Your program for week 1:

Time	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
AM	Walk 10 min out and 10 min back	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 10min out and 10min back	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back		An "explore" walk: burbs, beach or bush
PM		Strength Program 5 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps		Strength Program 5 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps		Gardening or some manual labour for at least 1hr

Your program for week 2:

Time	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
AM	Walk 10 min out and 10 min back. Try to walk further than last week	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 10 min out and 10 min back. Try to walk further than last week	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back. Try to walk further than last week		An "explore" walk: burbs, beach or bush
PM		Strength Program 5 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps		Strength Program 5 exercises, 2 sets of 10 reps		Gardening or some manual labour for at least 1hr

Your program for week 3:

Time	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
AM	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 15 min out and 15 min back		An "explore" walk: burbs, beach or bush
PM		Strength Program 5 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps		Strength Program 5 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps		Gardening or some manual labour for at least 1hr

Your program for week 4:

Time	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
AM	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back. Try to walk further than last week	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 12.5 min out and 12.5 min back. Try to walk further than last week	Flexibility 20 minutes	Walk 15 min out and 15 min back. Try to walk further than last week		An "explore" walk: burbs, beach or bush
PM		Strength Program 5 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps		Strength Program 5 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps		Gardening or some manual labour for at least 1hr

Designing Your Strength Program

1) Select at least one exercise from each of the four categories

Category	Exercise Example
Lower Body	Sit to stand Step up Forward lunge Wall squat
Upper Body	Wall press up Modified push ups (on knees) Chair dips
Trunk	Crunch Prone alternate arm/leg lift Supine bent knee side to side Hip Lifts
Arms/hands	Tennis ball squeeze Grip hands - pull apart Press hands - push together

2) Complete 1st set of 10 repetitions of each exercise; ie: lower body, upper body, trunk, arms.

3) Complete 2nd set of 10 repetitions of each exercise.

4) If doing 3 sets then complete the 3rd set.

5) Stretch the muscles you have exercised at the end of the program (don't forget to include the points for this in your workout total).

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