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Stretch and go for a walk.

In order for your body to be fit, you have to get active. Let me help you get started with an activity plan to help you to get the results you deserve. My approach to getting fit features a sustainable long-term plan, so you can get and keep your results progressing week after week.

Everyone should be active in some way, especially as our technology filled life keeps us seated for too many hours a day. No matter what your current fitness or activity level is, there’s so much research that shows us that balanced nutrition and a consistent approach to being active is a great long-term strategy for improving and maintaining a healthy body. If you’ve been resisting fitness and trying to control your body composition with diet alone, let me show you how to enhance your nutrition results and sustain them by adding regular activity into you week.

How much activity do you need?

Each person should strive to get active for at least 30 minutes on 5 days of the week. Some of the many health benefits associated with exercise are improved bone density, improved muscle tone, cardiovascular improvements and increased energy levels. If you want to make a big impact on body composition or improve your athletic performance, you’ll need to strive to be active for longer periods of time. Aim for 60-90 minutes of varied intensity levels that fit in with your specific personal fitness goals.

Don’t be scared of exercise

The reason so many people avoid exercise is because they associate it with many negative things like not feeling good, sweating, hard work and sore muscles. Now, I can’t promise that getting active won’t make you sweat. But I can tell you that if you follow a slow, progressive approach to getting active, you’ll start to associate fitness with improved body composition, body confidence and feeling great. Jumping into a routine too quickly can lead to increased muscle soreness, so be kind to your body and increase your intensity as your fitness level increases. If it’s too late and you’re already sore, grab a bag of ice and rest with gentle walking and stretches. During your next session push your self enough to get results, but not too hard you cant walk the next day.

Take a fun approach to getting active

Your chosen activity should be fun, because that’s what will keep you coming back for more. Avoid the extreme January jump or summer push and slowly progress your activity level as your fitness level improves. If you fall off track, you’ll have to start back at the beginning. When you stop exercising, you lose some of your cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength. Have confidence, though, because the climb back to where you left off may be faster than the first time you started out. Our bodies have amazing muscle memory.

How to start or reclaim your fitness level

Here are my few simple tips to get you started…or back on track.

• Perform simple stretches to ensure you’re moving your muscles and joints through their full range of motion each day.

• Increase your daily activity level by taking the stairs, parking in the furthest space from the store, gardening, dancing, playing with your children. Just get moving.

• Start adding regular walks to your day. You can slowly increase your time until 30-minutes feels comfortable. Then increase your intensity level by walking faster. Start including varied terrain such as hills, then progress to a jogging or running pace.

• Perform body weight resistance exercises such as simple squats, lunges, push-ups and then progress to using weights.

The most important thing is to listen to your body. Push yourself enough so you feel like you’re challenging yourself, but not so hard that you risk getting injured or walk around feeling terribly sore the next day.

I encourage you to get started today, because your body deserves to be healthy and fit.

My challenge for you this week is to squeeze in the following—just get started being active.

First week of being active assignment:

• Do my chair stretching routine 3 times this week

• Do a brisk 5-minute walk 2 times a day

• Add 20 squats to your day on 5 days of the week. The great thing is that you can do them anywhere.

• Do 20 crunches each morning before you start your day

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Have fun getting active! Next week, I’ll help you to turn getting active into a proper workout.