No exercise program is one-size-fits-all, although some basic principles do apply to everyone. This chapter will show you how to get started on a walking program and also how to do some basic weight training and other exercises. We’ve set it up so that you can design an individualized regimen that works for you.Of course,as we’ve stressed before,check with your physician before you begin.
TAKE A WALK
Of all the many ways you can exercise, walking tops the list. It’s the ideal form of low-impact aerobic exercise. It gives you a good work- out, you certainly know how to do it, you can do it just about anywhere, and all it takes in the way of equipment is a pair of comfortable shoes. It’s the ultimate “no excuses”exercise.
Begin just by walking as far as you can. Push yourself a little bit, but not to the point of feeling exhausted. For beginners, the goal is to walk for at least a half hour at a comfortable pace, but if you’re very unfit, you might not be able to walk for that long; and even if you can, you might not get very far. Walking just a short distance for a short time is still a good start. Remember the old Chinese saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
There’s a natural tendency to be overly enthusiastic when you first start an exercise program, but it’s important to take the time to allow your body to adjust. Slow and steady is the way to protect your joints as you begin to reverse years of inactivity, restore muscle mass, and re- balance your body chemistry. There is no benefit in being so enthusiastic that you hurt yourself. It is also important to remember that those at greatest risk of developing serious cardiac complications associated with exercise are people who have been sedentary and begin with too much zeal.1 You’re changing your habits for life—taking it slowly for a few weeks to avoid injury will get you good results in the long run.
A good rule of thumb is to increase your walking distance and frequency gradually but steadily. Start by walking three times a week. For many people, increasing distance (and or time) by 10 percent a week prevents overuse injuries and allows your mind and body to adjust to the increased activity. It may seem slow, but if you stick with it, you’ll be up to a walk of 30 minutes’ duration pretty quickly. If you can only walk slowly to the corner of your street and back the first week,aim for twice the distance the next week. When you’ve reached the point of walking for 30 minutes, the next stage is to try to walk just as long, but a little faster.Your eventual goal is to walk nonstop at least every other day (preferably every day) for at least 30 minutes at a time at a brisk pace.What’s a brisk pace? Use a heart monitor or take your pulse every five minutes or so to verify that you’re exercising at your target heart rate (see Chapter 22). A more informal way is to use the talk-sing test. If you can carry on a conversation without gasping for breath, but don’t have enough breath to sing, your pace is about right.
As you continue with your walking program, you’ll find that you can go longer and longer with your heart rate around the target number. The time it takes after exercise for you to return to your resting heart rate will get shorter, and your resting heart rate may also decrease. Both shortened recovery time and a slower resting heart rate are signs that your exercise program is working, because they are indicators that your heart muscle is getting stronger and doesn’t have to work as hard to pump your blood.
RESEARCH REPORT: WALKING TO PREVENT DIABETES
We know that exercise helps prevent diabetes, but do you have to exercise strenuously? Not necessarily—brisk walking is almost as effective as more vigorous forms of exercise, such as jogging. When researchers looked at the activity levels of the women in the Nurses’ Health Study over an eight-year period, they found that overall, the more physically active a woman was, the less likely she was to develop diabetes. Compared with the women who were least active,the most active women had about half the risk. When the researchers adjusted the numbers to take body mass index (BMI) into account, there was still a strong benefit from physical activity. Even among the heaviest women, the ones who exercised the most—by walking or doing some other form of physical activity—cut their risk of diabetes by about 25 percent compared with the women who exercised the least.2 Just think how much more improvement these women could have experienced if they had used the ABSCP! Dr. Atkins knew, from years of seeing patients, that Type 2 diabetes can almost always be avoided!
WALKING ALTERNATIVES
If you don’t want to walk or if it’s not convenient,there are lots of good aerobic alternatives. You can swim or ride a bike; at the health club, you can take an aerobics class or work out on aerobic equipment, such as the stair-stepper, elliptical trainer, or treadmill. If you’d rather stay home, you can ride an exercise bike, do stepping exercises (if your leg joints are up to it), or exercise to a video tape—there are even walking tapes that give you the equivalent of a mile’s walk right in your own living room.
Walking might not be right for you if you have problems with your back, hips, knees, or feet. Never fear—there are plenty of other enjoyable aerobic exercises you can still do. Low-impact aerobics, water aerobics, swimming, biking, riding an exercise bike (consider a recumbent bike for added comfort),and using an elliptical trainer are all good options. Today there’s a wonderful world of exercise equipment that anyone, even someone who is very unfit or very overweight, can use. Just about every community has a place for just about anyone to exercise safely, often at little or no cost. You’ll find swimming pools, aerobic classes, and exercise equipment at health clubs,YMCAs, community centers, private exercise studios, and fitness centers at local hospitals. Some insurance companies cover fitness programs if they are prescribed by a physician.
WALK SAFELY
Some commonsense precautions will help keep your walks safe and comfortable:
EVERY STEP COUNTS: A GADGET TO GET YOU GOING
A newly popular way to work more physical activity into your life is to track your daily steps with a pedometer,a small,inexpensive gadget that clips to your waist and detects and records the motion of your steps.The average healthy adult takes some 6,000 to 8,500 steps a day—wear your pedometer for a week without changing your activities to find your personal average. Depending on how much you move around in the course of a typical day,to achieve 10,000 steps a day—about 4½ to 5 miles—you may only need to take a 30-minute walk. People who are less active will have to walk longer or find other ways to add more motion to their daily activities. The pedometer lets you see how close you come to achieving your goal.Keeping a chart can also help you track your progress.
CHAIR EXERCISES
If you still think all this talk about exercise is not meant for you because you’re very unfit or have trouble moving around, listen up: You can still exercise! Dr.Atkins generally recommended chair exercises in such cases, although anyone can certainly do them—they’re an excellent way to sneak in some exercise while sitting in your cubicle at work.We could suggest a dozen different exercises,but only have space here for a few. A good personal trainer can help you learn more, and there are plenty of books, videos, and Web sites that can give you additional suggestions. Just make sure your chair is up to it!
Arm Raises
Sit in a sturdy chair (without wheels, of course) with your feet flat on the floor. Stretch your arms out to either side at shoulder height with your palms facing out. To the count of five, slowly raise your arms above your head until your fingertips meet. Hold for a count of five, and then slowly lower your arms to shoulder height. Repeat at least four more times.
GOOD PAIN AND BAD PAIN
As you begin your exercise program, it’s perfectly normal to feel a little stiff and sore. After all, you’re moving muscles and joints that haven’t been used very much recently. There’s a difference between the “good” pain that comes with being more active and the “bad” pain that signals an injury.Here’s how to tell the two apart:
Good pain: A slight dull ache or soreness in a muscle or a slight stiffness around a joint that goes away after a couple of days, or even after a good soak in a warm tub.This sort of pain gradually diminishes as your fitness level increases.
Bad pain: Sharp or sudden pain that keeps hurting after you stop the activity. This could indicate a joint problem or an injury. If the pain is severe or persists,or if the joint is red or swollen,see your doctor.
Knee Extensions
Sit in a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the floor. Keeping your feet together, to the count of five, slowly extend your legs until your calves are parallel to the floor—or as parallel as you can get them for now. Hold for a count of five, then slowly lower your feet again to the floor. Repeat at least four more times. If it’s too hard for you to do both legs together, do them one at a time.
Marching in Place
Sit in a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the floor. Alternating legs, “march”in place at a walking pace. Continue for at least three minutes or for as long as you are comfortable.
DANGER SIGNS!
The moderate exercise recommended here is unlikely to cause problems,especially if your doctor has cleared you to do it.Even so,be alert to the danger signs. If you experience any of the following, stop exercising immediately and seek medical care:
WEIGHT TRAINING
In the next phase of your program, you will maintain your aerobic exercise every other day for at least 30 minutes at the level that keeps your heart rate at around your calculated target number.You will then begin to add weight training (also known as resistance training) to your plan. Your goal will be to do your weight routine on the days between your aerobic exercise—or two or three times a week for about 30 minutes at each session.You’ll be exercising almost every day.
GETTING STARTED
Despite the ads you see on TV for expensive, complicated equipment, weight training can be very simple and inexpensive.You can even start with cans of soup instead of weights, but we recommend starting with inexpensive 1- or 2-pound dumbbells or strap-on adjustable wrist and ankle weights. You can buy these in any sporting goods department or store. You may need to start with just a ½-pound weight and move up gradually to heavier weights as you get stronger.
STRETCH FIRST!
The first few minutes of any exercise session should be spent on some gentle stretching exercises. This allows your body to prepare for exercise and avoids joint and ligament damage.
Take note: If you have physical challenges that would make the exercises mentioned here difficult, discuss your exercise plan with your doctor or a physical therapist.
Start by stretching the muscles in the backs of your lower legs (calves). Stand facing a wall,about 12 inches away.Place your palms on the wall at shoulder height. Keeping your feet flat on the floor, slowly and gently do a “push-up” against the wall. Hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds and let your muscles stretch out naturally—don’t bounce—then repeat. You should feel mild tension but no pain from the stretch. To feel more of a stretch, stand farther back from the wall. The muscles in the backs of your legs are the ones that tighten up the most from sitting, so they require the most stretching. It is also beneficial to stretch the muscles in the back of the thigh, the hamstrings.An easy way to do this is to extend both legs while sitting in a chair, bending forward at the hips with the back straight.
Next, stretch the muscles in your shoulders, middle back, and arms. Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width. Interlace your fingers and turn your hands palms out. Extend your arms out in front of you at shoulder height. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds, relax, and repeat.
If you don’t have back problems, use this stretch for your middle back. Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width and your knees slightly bent. Place your hands on your hips. Gently twist your upper body to the left at the waist until you feel a gentle stretch. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds, relax, and repeat. Repeat twice more, twisting gently to the right.
Here’s a good stretch for your arms: Throw a bath towel over an open door. Stand facing the edge of the door. Hold on to the ends of the towel with one hand on each side of the door. Now pull down on the towel with one arm, as if you were pulling it off the door. Your other arm will be lifted up as you pull down. Do this, alternating arms each time, five to ten times, to gently warm up your arm and shoulder muscles.
By beginning your workout slowly, you will stretch the muscles in the rest of your body; as you warm up, increase the pace.
READY, SET, LIFT
To get the most from weight-training exercise, it should be done slowly and repetitively. Lift your weights to a slow count of three or four, pause at the top of the motion, and then lower the weights to a slow count of three or four.Breathe out slowly as you lift the weight up and breathe in as you lower it—don’t hold your breath! Repeat each exercise five times (this is known as doing five “reps”) to start. Each group of reps is a set. To get the most out of this experience, start with a weight that can be lifted 10 to 20 times. By starting with an easy weight, you can practice good technique and also begin developing muscular endurance while building strength. Rest for a minute or two between each set and between different exercises. When an exercise starts to get too easy, you can increase the weight, remembering to move up in increments that allow you to continue with at least ten reps at a time. By changing only the weight or number of reps at any one time, you can minimize the stress on muscles and tendons and hopefully avoid injuries.
There are many different weight-training exercises, each designed to help strengthen a particular group of muscles, such as the quadriceps in your upper thigh. Here are five exercises that would make up a very basic starting program. (For more suggestions, visit www.atkins. com.) To take your weight training further—and we hope you will— we strongly recommend working with a personal trainer,if this option is available to you.
Biceps Curl
This exercise strengthens your biceps, the muscle in the front of your upper arm (the muscle that bulges when Popeye eats his spinach).
Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and hang your arms at your sides with your palms facing outward, away from your body. Holding your elbows in close to your sides, curl (lift) both dumbbells up toward your shoulders. Lower and repeat.You can alternate arms.
Triceps Curl
This exercise strengthens your triceps and the muscle in the back of your upper arm,and it can help add definition in this frequent trouble spot.You only need one dumbbell for this exercise.
Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width. Grasp the dumbbell vertically and hold it with both hands above and slightly behind your head. Keeping your upper arms close to your head, lower the dumbbell behind your head until your forearms touch your biceps.Raise the dumbbell up again and repeat. Alternately, to put less stress on the elbow joint and shoulder, consider doing overhead extensions. Simply hold the dumbbell at shoulder height and elevate it above your head. Repeat on the other side.
Upward Row
This exercise strengthens your trapezius (the large upper-back muscle), your deltoids (the shoulder muscles), and your biceps (front arm muscles).
Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width. Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Place your arms in front of your thighs, with your palms facing your thighs. Lift the dumbbells up until your hands are under your chin and your elbows are at shoulder height and pointing out to the sides. Lower and repeat.
Side Hip Raise
This exercise strengthens the muscles of your thighs and your hips. These muscles help you stand up easily and also help you keep your balance.You’ll need your ankle weights (you can do it without weights at first) and a sturdy chair to do this exercise.
Stand behind a sturdy chair and place your hands lightly on the back for balance. Slowly lift your foot straight out to the side until it is about six inches off the ground. Return and repeat. Do one set and then switch to the other leg. Be careful to keep your body upright as you do the exercise; don’t lean to the side.
Leg Swings
This exercise strengthens the muscles on the inside of your thighs. You’ll need your ankle weights (you can do it without weights at first) and a sturdy chair to do this exercise.
Stand sideways to the chair back, with your left hand resting lightly on the back for balance.Slowly swing your right leg forward until your heel is about six inches off the ground; then slowly swing your leg back until your toes are about six inches off the ground. Return to a standing position and repeat. Do one set and switch to the left leg. You’ll have to turn around and put your right hand on the chair back.
To complete your weight training, consider performing some toe stands. The weight you lift in this exercise is your own body. For this one, once again, you’ll need a sturdy, nonrolling chair.
Stand behind the back of the chair with your feet slightly apart. Rest both hands lightly on the back for balance. Slowly raise yourself up on your toes, pause for a moment, and then slowly lower yourself back down until your feet are flat on the floor. Repeat five to ten times.
Now that you’ve finished your exercises, don’t forget to cool down— repeat a couple of your favorite stretches (especially leg stretches) or take an easy walk.
SHOULD YOU JOIN A HEALTH CLUB?
Joining a health club is a great way to get in shape. The clubs offer exercise equipment that’s too big and expensive to have at home, along with classes and expert help from a personal trainer on designing your work- out. Many health clubs now offer classes just for people who are over- weight or very out of condition. Also, the range of activities at a health club lets you find the ones you particularly enjoy. Another advantage is the camaraderie that comes from working out with other people. Finding some good exercise buddies helps keep you motivated.
If you’re thinking of joining a health club, here’s what to look for:
THE NEXT STEP
After you have established both your weight and aerobic programs, you can advance further. Use the principles of interval training and cross-training to continue your improvement.
Interval training means alternating periods of regular exercise with periods of more intense exercise. In your walking program, for instance, you would add interval training by exercising harder for two minutes out of every ten that you walk. Start by warming up as usual. Increase to your usual brisk pace for eight minutes, and then walk as fast as you safely can for two minutes. Return to your usual pace for another eight minutes, and add the speed burst again for two minutes, and so on for the duration of your walk.When you can do five minutes of fast walking for every ten minutes of exercise, it’s time for congratulations! You’re doing great! In fact, you can now start thinking about cross-training—adding other activities to your exercise program for variety and to work additional muscles. You may now well be able to return to activities you used to enjoy or try some new ones. Proceed cautiously, of course, and with the advice of a personal trainer if at all possible.
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
Keeping track of your progress is a great way to help you stick with your exercise program. Use these sample exercise log sheets to record your daily activity. (You can copy them or use them as a template for designing your own log.) After you’ve been exercising regularly for a few months, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come along.
AEROBIC PROGRAM
DATE | START TIME | END TIME | DURATION | DISTANCE | COMMENTS |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
____ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
DATE: ________________ | WEIGHT | REPS/SETS |
Biceps Curl | ________ | ________ |
Triceps Curl | ________ | ________ |
Upward Row | ________ | ________ |
Side Hip Raise | ________ | ________ |
Leg Swings | ________ | ________ |