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If you have the following risk factors you increase you chance of having heart disease (American Heart Association, Heart and Stroke Facts, 1997):
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol levels
- current smoker
- physically inactive
- diabetes mellitus
- family history
- age (men over the age of 45 and women over the age of 55 or who have premature menopause without estrogen replacement therapy)
If you are performing moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, and you are apparently healthy (that is you have
no more than one major risk factor for cardiovascular disease; see question/answer above), then it is safe to
exercise without a doctor's clearance. However, if you have symptoms of cardiovascular disease, you should
obtain clearance from your physician before beginning an exercise program.
If you are performing vigorous exercise, such as jogging, and you are over 40 years of age (men) or over 50 years of age (women) then you should obtain clearance from your physician before beginning an exercise program.
(American College of Sports Medicine, Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription,1998).
The answer to this question is another question.
What is the purpose or goal of your exercise program?
If you want to improve or maintain your health then any moderate physical activity performed on most days of the week is beneficial. The Surgeon General recommends that "each US adult should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferable all, days of the week" for optimal health.
Even short bouts (10 minutes) of light to moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, stretching, yoga, swimming, or dancing can be of psychological benefit or help manage the effects of stress.
The bottom line is, "it is better to move than to sit!"
If you don't enjoy exercise or you often are sore or injuried, then you are doing too much exercise and you need to:
- reduce the intensity of the exercise
- reduce the length of the exercise session
- reduce the frequency of exercise (don't exercise every day)
- choose a different exercise
There are several options.
You can begin your exercise session together, then the more fit partner can go on ahead and return to meet his/her partner, and continue to the end of the session.
You can perform your exercise session together on one day and then exercise separately on the next day, so that the fitter partner can exercise more intensely.
The less fit partner can go out ahead of time, while the more fit partner can catch up to them and complete the session together.
Find ways to increase the intensity of exercise for the fit person while exercising together, such as carrying a backpack if walking, running with hand or ankle weights, or riding a bike with extra weight attached.
This is a great question since the goal of any health improvement program is to make it a regular part of your daily routine or lifestyle. Studies have shown the following factors will increase long term adherence to an exercise program.
- Start easy and increase exercise intensity and duration gradually.
- Perform an exercise that you enjoy and one in which you feel competent.
- The more convenient the exercise the better (being able to perform stretching exercises in your own home or being able to work out your door and go for a walk, jog, or bike ride versus having to attend at exercise class at a local health club).
- Build the exercise into your daily routine, as you do eating and brushing your teeth.
- Exercise in a pleasing environment away from traffic, noise and distractions.
- Support from significant others is important.
- The opportunity to exercise with a partner or exercise alone, whichever is most enjoyable.
- Listen to your body. If you had planned to jog but you feel sluggish, rather than skipping exercise all together, or pushing yourself to jog, talk a walk or put on some music to move to.
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