How much should you be exercising a week – even if you’re feeling sore
One of the most common questions mums ask when they sign up to the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is, “How much exercise should I do a week?”
Of course, you should clear it with your GP before you start working out. Especially if you have a medical condition, have had an operation or have just had a baby.
But on the whole, if you want to see results and want to boost your physical and mental health, you will need to commit to working out at least three to four days a week to exercise – but you must build up to this. To start, you might only want to do two days a week walking and work your way up.
Experts suggest we do 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week combined with moderate activity. Melissa Timmer, who has lost 5.8st by following the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, discusses this more below…
Melissa’s advice on how much you should be exercising each week
This is my best topic because I have such a passion and love for health and fitness.
Exercising can be pretty daunting at first and it usually takes a lot of courage to get up and get it done. Studies show we should aim for 10,000 steps a day and at least 30 min of moving our body.
If you are starting out on your journey and have not been very active in the past please make sure you’re checking up with your GP first to make sure you have the all clear to exercise. Once you have to tick of approval you’re good to go.
Start with small fitness goals
My best tip is to start off with small fitness goals while still stepping out of that comfort zone.
It took about a year before I really fell in love with working on my fitness and loving the feeling exercise gave me.
What to do if you feel sore after exercising
Let’s talk about the soreness you get from exercise, this can be a downer and can even struggle and usually you’re going to be sore if you’re working muscles that haven’t been worked in a while.
You may be doing movements that you haven’t ever done before and you could be affected for up to a week before it subsides.
Experts say listen to your body, but what does that mean? Listening to our body when we are super sore means just sit down and not move, but this will only make it worse. Now, I’m not saying to go do another crazy weights session, but walking it out, stretching and using a roller to stretch is going to help.
It might be painful at the time but it will help the pain. Don’t forget our muscles are growing while we are resting, so make sure you’re not overtraining, an hour session is more than enough per day. If the pain persists, seek medical help immediately.
I use exercise for my mental health it really has helped me with my depression and anxiety, so if I’m having a bad day I might do two classes.
Tips on how to enjoy exercise
Find something that you can really enjoy, whether it’s working out in your lounge room with The Healthy Mummy app, going to smash out a boxing class, swimming, pole dancing.
There are so many options you can do to keep active but most of all just have fun with it while meeting new people and living your best possible life.
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