Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

The following exercises are designed for people beginning to exercise or to maintain base fitness while on business or holiday. The exercise programme should be carried out a minimum of twice a week. The programme should also be changed every 4-6 weeks otherwise muscles adapt and progression slows.

To exercise safely there is essential advice to consider before you begin.

Wear appropriate clothing that enables you to go through all the various ranges of movement without being hindered. Wear suitable trainers – especially ones tailored to your footfall and movement style.

Always warm up, this pumps blood to your muscles priming you for exercise. A warm up will also shift your focus to the task ahead. Before starting each exercise think about the technique involved, this means you will be safe and will target the appropriate muscles. Engage your core muscles slightly (explained in the next section) in order to balance better during the movement.

Do the repetition in a controlled manner. For example, when lowering during a press-up, use a slow and controlled movement rather than allowing gravity to do the work. Each phase of an exercise should generally take between two and three seconds and should always be a controlled movement.

Expect some discomfort with exercise but not pain. Stop exercising immediately if you experience pain externally or internally. Look after your back, especially the lower back. Wherever possible, keep your chin up and head in line with your spine. Dropping your head increases pressure on your neck and lower back.

Strength and core stability exercises should be combined with cardiovascular work. This includes but is not limited to; walking, jogging and running.

Repetitions

It is strongly recommended that as a beginner you try no more than one set of twelve repetitions on each exercise. For example, each press-up is a “repetition” and all twelve press-ups are the “set”.

Once the first set of each exercise becomes easier for you, increase the number of repetitions from twelve to fifteen. In future workouts, you may want to progress from one set to two sets. The best way to judge whether you are ready to progress is when you are able to maintain proper form without any difficulty towards the end of the set.

Note

There are a number of myths surrounding exercise, especially where women are involved. Correct training does not necessarily:

• Make women too bulky or masculine
• Harm the joints
• Make you you muscle bound or decrease flexibility
• Turn muscle into fat when you stop training

End of section.

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“TV & Beans Workout” Ebook devised by Steve Haywood. ©2008 All Rights Reserved.

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