Exercising - we're supposed to but.....

Exercising – we all should do it. We’re told we should do it, we know we should do it but….what, where, when, and how. Well, at least I don’t have to ask why.

I’ve tried joining gyms. Friends would tell me, “you’ll love it after the first few weeks,” and “it’s addicting, you get a high.” Um. No. I didn’t. I didn’t love it, I didn’t get addicted, and I certainly didn’t get high. I hated it, didn’t want to do it, and dropped of exhaustion every time I got home.

To tell you the truth, when this happened, I felt like a failure – after all, everyone else loves it, right? It took me a while to realize it but exercising doesn’t have to be an organized gym attendance type of thing. My husband likes to do that – I don’t. Like many things, I do things one way, he does things another.

As a Mayo clinic researcher recently reported, walking is just fine as exercise. It not only helps keep the body in shape, it seems to help keep blood pressure under control as well. Walking is easy to do unless you have a disability, it’s free, and it has an added benefit that a gym doesn’t have. You can walk your dog, you can walk with your friends, you can walk to do your errands, and you can walk to amuse yourself. You can people watch when you walk into the city, you can enjoy the fresh air of a park walk, you can go with the flow with other walkers in a walking club, or you can just walk around your neighbourhood and enjoy the view. And for those cold wintery days, many large malls have walking clubs where you can walk and talk with other walking club members.

Add to this that walking is a weight-bearing activity, something that is important for fighting osteoporosis. Of course, the more vigorous your walk, the more exercise-like it is, but there’s a lot to be said for a nice stroll too. We rush so much through life these days that a nice comfortable walk is as much for the mind as it is for the body.

So, if you’re like me and really aren’t in to exercising, no matter how many good intentions we had along the way, walking is really something that even we can do. I admit it. I should get out and walk some more. Ok, time to challenge myself and off for a walk!

News for today:

When it comes to walking, it's all good, says Mayo Clinic researcher
European Union bans sale of toxic mercury thermometers
Groin injuries averted by preseason injury prevention