10. Exercise Daily for the First Two Weeks to Kickstart Change

The fifth strategy to unlocking your fitness potential is to kickstart change by exercising daily for the first two weeks. This goes against the conventional wisdom that says you should ease into a new exercise program, particularly if you’ve been sedentary for a while.

My experience working with literally thousands of older adults over the years tells a different story: by exercising daily for the first two weeks, your body gets the kickstart it needs to change with no added risk of injury. Unless you introduce a greater volume of exercise at the beginning of the program, your body may get stuck in low gear, and then you run the risk of seeing little to no progress for all your hard work.

To illustrate this point, I like to use the analogy of launching a rocket into space. The rocket needs a lot more energy at the beginning of the flight to overcome the inertia of Earth’s gravitational force, but once it’s in orbit, the amount of energy required to stay up there is minimal. Like a rocket heading for space, your body needs more effort at the start of its journey to overcome its current state of inertia.

After exercising daily for the first two weeks, you won’t need to invest as much energy to continue progressing. At this stage, you can rest for one day a week. This day of rest will help your body recover and avoid injuries, and keep you motivated so you can push yourself when it’s time to exercise again.

After eight weeks of exercise, you can rest for two or three days a week if you’re happy with your progress, don’t see a need for more gains, and just want to maintain the gains you’ve already made.

By following this strategy, you’ll see your strength, balance, and energy launch like a rocket to new levels that’ll amaze you and everyone you know.

Key Takeaways

• Exercise daily for the first two weeks so your body gets the kickstart it needs to change with no added risk of injury.
• After two weeks, you won’t need as much exercise to continue progressing; you can rest one day a week. This will help your body recover and avoid injuries, and keep you motivated so you can push yourself when it’s time to exercise again.
• After eight weeks, you can rest two or three days a week if you’re happy with your progress, don’t see a need for more gains, and want to maintain the gains you’ve made.

Action Steps

• Consider how the suggestion of exercising daily for the first two weeks sits with you. Do you like it, not like it, or feel neutral about it? If you have strong feelings about it, what do you think is behind them?
• If you’re a family member or a caregiver for an older adult you’d like to help with exercise, share the information you’ve learned in this chapter with them.