Make a Commitment
for an Exercise Program

The following is basic information to begin and maintain an exercise program.

If you are over 40 years old or have a health problem, like high blood pressure, you should see your doctor before beginning to exercise. In general, exercise involves minimal risks, if you are in good health or if you are following your doctor's advice.

Physical fitness allows you to perform your daily activities. It is a basis for good health and well being.

The basic parts of physical fitness are:

• Cardiovascular endurance is achieved by having a program that includes specific instructions for frequency, duration and intensity of exercises.
• Muscular strength can be measured by various weightlifting exercises.
• Flexibility allows you to use joints comfortably.

It is important to establish a workout schedule that will outline how often and how long you will exercise. The type of exercises you will use, will depend on your goal.

Each workout should start with a warm up and end with a cool down period. In general, you should schedule workouts 3 times per week, but not more than 5 times per week. Workout sessions should be at least 20 minutes long, with additional 5-10 minutes for warm up and 5-10 minutes for cool down.

Heart rate is one method of measuring intensity of your exercises. The heart rate should be raised to a certain level and maintained for 20 minutes to contribute to cardiovascular fitness.

The heart rate that you should maintain is the target heart rate. One method to calculate the target heart rate is: Maximum heart rate (220 - age) x 70%. For example, the target heart rate for a 45 year old would be: 220 - 45 = 175 x .70 = 122.

If you want to look good, feel good and live longer, an exercise program is an excellent start.