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A Weekend Only Exercise
Warning
When it comes to
exercising, unfortunately, it's easy to lose track of time or just plain
lose enthusiasm. For many of us, the biggest problem is our busy schedules.
From sun up to sun down, it seems, we are constantly busy with other things.
We don't have time to exercise, or so it appears. The only free time we have
tends to come on the weekend.
That has created a lot of weekend warrior exercisers. In terms of
exercising, a weekend warrior is a person who basically sits around like a
couch potato all week only to get a burst of exercising enthusiasm on the
weekends.
Is being a weekend warrior a good thing, though? Well, like anything else,
it has its good sides and its bad sides.
The Good:
The good thing about exercising only on the weekends is that it's better
than not exercising at all. After all, something is better than nothing.
Unfortunately, though, that's about the only good thing to be said for it.
The Bad:
There are several bad sides to exercising only on weekends. One is that your
body likes to do things in moderation. In other words, you need
recovery
time between workout sessions and you need to exercise different muscles on
different days. If you're only exercising two days a week and those two days
are back to back, that creates some stress on your body.
Another problem with the weekend warrior exercise plan is that it's just not
enough time to accomplish much. If you want to lose weight, for example, you
should be exercising at least 3 or 4 days a week. Twice a week after being
sedentary at an office desk or in front of a TV all day is not going to cut
it. A lot of the work you do on the weekend can be reversed throughout the
following week because you aren't active enough and you may be eating a
poor
diet, too.
Then there's the mental problem with only exercising on the weekends. You
have an entire week to think about the upcoming weekend. You're mentally
setting yourself up to put off your routine because you have “better things
to do” on the weekends. If you do actually follow through with your exercise
plan on the weekend, you're likely to go into it
expecting to fail. If you
have the “Oh my gosh, I am too out of shape for this!” attitude, it's going
to make it even harder to be productive.
The Ugly:
Unfortunately, those aren't the only bad sides to only exercising on
weekends. It gets even uglier than that. For starters, because you've been
sedentary all week, your muscles aren't really prepared to work. So, you're
likely to tire out faster and find yourself wanting to back things up and do
shorter and shorter routines that are easier and easier. A proper exercise
program done several times a week, on the other hand, should give you more
strength and endurance.
The really ugly problem with being a weekend warrior, though, is that your
body is just not going to be ready to exercise. So, even if you do a
proper
warm up routine, you're going to be much more prone to injuries. Sprained
ankles, knee problems, tennis elbow and torn rotator cuffs are just a few of
the potential injuries you could be facing. Your odds of
getting those
injuries as a weekend warrior are also greater because many weekend warrior
exercisers insist on doing harder or longer routines than they should, in
order to try to compensate for not exercising all week.
Turning Things Around:
Obviously, being a weekend warrior exerciser is not all it's cracked up to
be. There's a definite down side to it. Luckily, though, there are ways to
avoid falling into the trap. The first thing to realize is that you can get
some exercise every day. It may not be an exercise routine, but that doesn't
mean it's not exercise.
For example, let's say that you work in an office building. Well, you might
have the option to take an elevator or take stairs. Taking the
stairs even
twice a week can give you a bit more exercise. Also, if you live near where
you work, try walking or
biking to work in the warm weather. Another way to
get more exercise and have fun at the same time is to take your
child or
pet
to the park for at least an hour one weekday each week. In general, just
find ways to get up and moving a little more than you normally might.
For The Busy Bee:
Ideally, you should plan to exercise at least
three days a week for a set
amount of time. Some people find that things seem to pop up on them all the
time, though. Some such busy bees try the double length routine schedule.
For example, if you want to exercise for half an hour three nights per week,
schedule yourself an hour of exercise time three nights a week, instead. The
idea there is that, if you get tossed off schedule slightly, you'll still
have an extra half hour to work with.
Finally, remember that you need to stay
motivated to exercise. That means
making it fun. For some people that means being able to exercise while
watching TV. For some it means exercising outside. For many it means being
able to spend time with friends and family, though. Having one or more
exercise buddies can really help to keep you motivated.
The Problems Repeating The
Same Exercises
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before starting any new diet.
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