Paralysis by analysis. That is what happens when you are so bombarded by information that you have trouble choosing what information you need or even what to pay attention to. This is what happens when you are looking into cell phone plans or new computers and, boy, does this ever happen when trying to research an exercise program. You see so many methods, each promising the best results, whether it’s gaining the most muscle, losing the most fat or looking like the guy in the Bowflex ad in 10 minutes a week. It’s all very confusing, especially if you’re just trying to get started and aren’t really sure of the best way to go about it. Here’s the thing, though: It’s really not that hard.
All you really have to do to get started is…something.
To be sure, certain programs are better than others, but doing a bad program is almost always better than doing no program. Doing something and giving a good honest effort almost always gets results at first. Don’t worry about six months from now (yet). Just worry about working exercise into your daily life. That’s the most important thing. Remember, you are changing the habits of your life and you need to get started! Once you have gotten into the habit of exercising you can then go from doing something to doing something better.
I’ve seen a video where former pro football player Herschel Walker talks about how in his youth he didn’t know what to do for exercise, so he would just do push-ups and crunches during TV commercials. If you don’t think this laid a foundation for him you’ve never seen Herschel Walker. Even as a pro football player he would do 100 crunches every hour on the hour. If you are still wondering how to get started, here’s a very simple program you can do at home in your living room with no equipment: 1 set of squats for 8 reps 1 set of lunges for 8 reps 1 set of pushups for 6 reps Hold a plank position for 20 seconds
The basic instructions for all of these exercises can be found on YouTube or you can drop me a line. Do these sets back-to-back with no rest in between. This is called a complex. As you get better, add sets with a 90-120 second rest period in between. As you get better from there, add a few reps and do shorter rest periods eventually going down to a 45 second rest period. Do this three times a week. If you can’t do the pushups or planks from the floor, do them from your knees or with your hands on a chair.
There you go! You have just gone from doing nothing to doing a program that works your legs, hips, chest, shoulders, butt, arms and abs. One round should only take a couple of minutes. Perfect for those long commercial breaks when you’re anxious to find out who got voted off “American Idol”.
Hopefully you’ll find that doing this makes you feel and look better and makes you want to do some more advanced stuff. Most of all I hope that this makes you realize that it’s not hard to get started and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t felt better once they did.
–from the Castro Valley Forum – April 22, 2009
Mitchell Rothbardt www.mitchrothbardttraining.com (coming soon) Discover Your Strength
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