First of all, Aerobic exercise is important for everybody. It's never too late to begin an aerobic exercise program and to experience the often dramatic changes. If you've been avoiding exercise for some time, start a lower level of physical activity than a more active person. You may have an underlying medical condition that limits your choice of exercises; if so, ask your doctor for advice about exactly how to proceed.



Some people worry that aerobic exercise will increase their heart rates, they have only so many heartbeats in a lifetime. In fact, fit individuals use 10 to 25% fewer heartbeats in the course of a day, even allowing for the increase during exercise periods. Aerobic training also builds good muscle tone, improves reflexes, improves balance, burns fat, aids the bowels, and makes the bones stronger.

Other people worry about destroying their joints by too much aerobic exercises, or about sudden death while exercising. The truth is the opposite. Those who exercise have much less disability than those who don't because the tissues around their joints become stronger. Occasionally a person does have a heart attack during exercise, the overall chances of a heart attack are greatly decreased by aerobic exercise.

Your choice of a particular aerobic activity depends on your own desires and your present level of fitness. You should be able to grade the activity; you should be able to easily and gradually increase both the effort and the duration of the exercise.

You have to set goals. Set goals for the level of fitness you want to achieve. Preferrably your final goal should be at least one year away, but you may want to develop in between goals for maybe one, three and six months.

Choose a particular time for your exercise. Your exercises should be regularly performed for at least five out of seven days of the week. If you decide to exercise all seven days, take it easy one or two days each week. Each exercise period should be reasonably constant in effort.

When you're walking, jogging, or whatever, you can use both distance and time to keep track of your progress. When starting out, make a habit to keep a diary of what you do each day to be sure you're on track of your goal. Get accustomed to the activity first and then begin to push it just a little bit.

Be sure to loosen up with stretching exercises before and after exercise periods, and wear clothing warm enough to keep your muscles from getting cold and cramping. The bottom line is patience and common sense.