Sport acts as a stimulator on the body: it stimulates the secretion of hormones responsible for life processes, improving the functioning of the organs and thus supporting cleansing and regeneration. We suggest how to get your body moving step by step and motivate yourself to exercise regularly.

Man was not made to sit and rely on the couch. It is enough to observe small children: when they are not asleep, they are constantly on the move. This innate instinct becomes suppressed with age, and the natural proportions of movement and rest are disturbed. This is especially visible in winter, when we usually have less traffic than in other seasons of the year. One of the consequences is a decline in form in the spring. But it's only up to us to change it.

Even not very intense, but regularly undertaken activity will improve your condition and have a positive effect on the psyche, because physical exercise activates endorphins - hormones responsible for well-being. This effect is especially visible when we play sports outdoors and catch a greater dose of sunlight. After several months of winter laziness, it is not easy to force yourself to exercise. But you don't have to - or even shouldn't - start immediately with a murderous training session.

The start-up should be gradual, taking into account individual possibilities. We advise on how to start physical awakening and how to choose the type of activity. It is important to be systematic, properly motivated and to adjust the activity to your own needs, preferences and the time of the day.

1. Start the day with a warm-up

It facilitates the transition from night rest to daytime activity, which can be the most difficult moment of the day for a lazy organism. Although it sounds trivial, a good warm-up "sets" the body and psyche for the whole day, it prepares for the next tasks.

  • Set the alarm clock to an earlier hour - a quarter of an hour is enough to start. When you wake up, don't get up right away, stretch, then sit down, take a few deep breaths, spinning the circles with your feet, hands, head, activating the shoulder joints, and then stand up.
  • Open the window, drink a few sips of water with honey and lemon in the kitchen (honey should dissolve in water overnight, add lemon juice in the morning).
  • Return to the ventilated room and do a dozen or so stretching exercises, circulation, swing,bends, twists of the body. Warm up your joints, starting with the wrists and ankles, going to the center one by one (elbows and knees, then shoulder and hip joints). Breathe deeply. A warm-up will stimulate circulation, and with each subsequent movement you will feel your body adjust to activity. When all your joints are warm, finish.
  • For the next few days you can just warm up - it's important to do it every day. In time, take her to the court; Let it be a vigorous, 20-30-minute walk with a break for stretching exercises, e.g. at a bench or at a local gym outdoors. Important: do not run in the morning, because the joints are pinched after resting at night and it is easier to injure yourself.
  • After exercise, drink water again, cool off, take a shower, alternating warm and cool water - this will regenerate muscles after exercise and improve immunity. Eat breakfast. You probably won't need your morning coffee to wake up from sleep, and you'll notice with satisfaction that a well-oxygenated brain will work longer without getting tired or losing concentration.
This will be useful to you

Remember to drink water both before, during and after training. Drink often, in small portions, a few sips each - the water will then be used better than a half-liter bottle absorbed in one go. By hydrating your body, you will help your kidneys remove toxins. The best choice is natural, medium mineralized mineral water (500-1500 mg of minerals per liter) from underground sources, which will provide you with magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium. Avoid carbonated water - the carbon dioxide in it has an acidifying effect. However, it is worth adding lemon juice to the water - it counteracts acidification, which is the result of too intense physical exertion.

2. Train what gives you pleasure

Physical activity must not be a chore, it should give you pleasure, because it will increase your motivation. Consider how you can combine it with your preferences. If you like music and dancing, sign up for a Zumba, ballroom dance course or do your favorite exercises with music. If you are a fan of literature, take your headphones with you and listen to audiobooks during your training. You like to exercise in a company - make an appointment with your friends or join a fitness club for group exercises (more on p. 92). You have a hard time tearing away from the TV - exercise at home on a stationary bike. You are the meditative type - not only yoga will be suitable for you, but also long distance swimming, rowing and walking in the woods. You like difficult challenges and puzzles - try training on a climbing wall.

3. Choose your activity so faron

Morning start-up is a patent especially for busy people who spend most of their time in the office or at meetings. It is worth supplementing it with additional training after work or during the day (if you have, for example, a longer break at noon, but you work late). In the first half of the day and in the early afternoon, exercises to support concentration, combined with conscious breathing and stretching, and to alleviate back problems in people who have sedentary work (e.g. yoga, pilates, sitting on a ball) will be better. In the afternoon, we will use activities that help to reduce the accumulated stress - jogging, roller skating, aerobics, Zumba, ballroom dancing, swimming, oars, spinning, martial arts. NOTE: do not train intensively just before a night's rest, because it may cause difficulties with falling asleep. When stimulated by exercise, the body needs about 2 hours to calm down before going to bed.

4. Adjust the effort to your abilities

In order for the effort to be beneficial, its intensity must be adjusted to individual abilities and increased gradually. Who has never trained and would like to do something more than leisurely walks or slow cycling, should consult a doctor beforehand and do some tests. Caution is advisable if you suffer from a chronic disease, especially of the cardiovascular system - at this point, however, it is worth adding that well-chosen physical activity supports the treatment of diseases of this system. Choose the type of activity that your body accepts and suits your needs. If you want to increase the flexibility of the body, pilates, yoga, swimming, exercises in water will be suitable for you (in the case of problems with the joints and spine, it is worth training under the supervision of a professional physiotherapist instructor). You want to improve your cardiovascular fitness - choose an aerobic or interval sport: cycling, roller skating, jogging, aerobics, Nordic walking, spinning, tabata. Don't be discouraged if you feel sore even after a little effort - it's a natural phenomenon for beginners. However, avoid overtraining, because too much effort causes overloading the body.

5. Look for support in the group

Exercising in company helps to keep going. In the group, we cheer each other on, support and encourage each other. When exercising in a team with an instructor, we additionally have professional support, because the instructor selects exercises with the appropriate level of difficulty and intensity, and makes sure that we practice correctly. Thanks to this, there is no risk of injury and overtraining.

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