t's never too late to get in shape! For those of you who think you hate to exercise, I say you just haven't found the right activity…YET. There truly is something out there for everyone and this summer, if you haven't already, I highly recommend you make it a priority to make physical activity a permanent part of your life.

You have to go into this realizing that even if you're not physically coordinated, competitive, or agile, that should never keep you on the sidelines. You don't even have to be "good" at an activity in order to enjoy it or reap the benefits from it, as long as you don't have poor form and end up injuring yourself. Moving is for everyone, even people with disabilities. Our hearts, brains, and overall health depend upon us exercising. Do not fool yourself into thinking that if you're young, old, thin, healthy, or look better than your peers that you don't need to exercise. Like me, you may have been traumatized by exercise as a child, but that's also not an excuse to keep your tush glued to the chair! I got over it, and so can you.

It's good for you

If you're not convinced of the multiple benefits of exercise, then you will never be able to successfully make exercise part of your life. Physical activity can help enhance your health by:

• Improving your cholesterol
• Lowering blood pressure
• Reducing risk of heart disease and diabetes
• Preventing breast, prostate, and colon cancers
• Building bone density
• Maintaining brain function
• Relieving depression and anxiety
• Improving posture and range of motion
• Building strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility
• Enhancing sleep
• Boosting energy levels
• Easing stress
• Mitigating inflammation

What else could a person ask for from a 90-minute a week commitment?

Once you start to get past that initial discomfort of making time, being stiff and getting tired quickly, you will start to enjoy moving, and will come to crave that post-workout feeling of well-being. But how do you get started?

Getting Started

If you're over 35 or have any health concerns, such as high blood pressure, you need to see your doctor before you begin an exercise program. Once you've been cleared for fitness, you should determine your goals. Do you want to achieve better health and move through your daily tasks more easily or do you want to run a marathon? Your goals will determine the intensity and duration of your workouts, as well as the type of exercise you choose.

The minimum you should aim for is 30 minutes of moderate activity a day, three to five days a week. This might not help you lose weight, but it should confer health benefits. If you're serious about getting fit, follow the strategy I've planned out below:

1. Map out a plan before you start.
2. Decide what types of exercise you will include (choose what you enjoy!).
3. Make a three-week commitment to exercise three days a week, including all of the elements of your program that I will discuss later.
4. Make a schedule beforehand and keep track of your exercise as you go.
5. At the end of three weeks, assess your level of compliance. You should feel proud of your achievements, but you probably won't feel any physical benefits yet.
6. Reward yourself for staying committed to your program with a new pair of fitness shoes or some exercise gear.
7. Make another commitment to a nine-week program. This is the time to make exercise a habit, like bathing and brushing your teeth.
8. Continue to exercise three days a week, but push yourself to increase your intensity or duration a little. You should start to feel the benefits now.
9. At the end of nine weeks, exercise should be a habit. If you feel you need to, you may want to make another 12-week commitment and continue tracking your progress.
10. Reward yourself for staying committed!

Take your personality and needs into consideration when planning your workouts. If you're a busy person, then first thing in the morning is probably the best time for you to exercise.

If you have trouble motivating, commit to a plan with a workout buddy. Taking group classes or hiring a personal trainer are excellent ways to help you stay focused, prevent injuries, learn proper form, and get the most out of your workouts. Set realistic goals for yourself.

What's Your Type?

There are different types of fitness and your program should cover each of them to help maximize your health benefits. First there's cardiovascular or aerobic exercise which conditions your heart, lungs, and circulatory system to work more efficiently. It also burns calories and fat and lowers your risk of chronic diseases by reducing inflammation. When you're doing cardio, your goal should be to get into the "zone" for at least 20 minutes to help ensure cardiovascular benefits. When you're in the zone, your heart beats faster, you breathe deeper and faster, and you sweat. You want to maintain this feeling for at least 20 minutes and you should feel like you can maintain your activity for at least that amount of time. If you feel like you're going to pass out or can't catch your breath, you need to back off-you're pushing yourself too hard and you're out of your zone. You might feel this way when you first start an exercise program, and you should take it easy and aim for spending ten minutes in the zone. You'll work your way up to 20 minutes when your body is ready.

Next, there is strength training, which helps to actively build muscle to boost metabolism and prevent muscle loss and age-related weight gain. It's also important for increasing insulin sensitivity to prevent or control diabetes, building bone density, improving balance to prevent falls, and protecting joints from wear and tear.

Finally, there is flexibility. Being flexible and agile helps to improve your mobility, diminish chronic pain, prevent falls, and improve posture.

Choose exercises that you find fun, convenient and will help meet the three types of fitness requirements. Listed in the table are some examples of exercises from each category of fitness and the minimum weekly goals for each. Sorry, but golf doesn't count! However, you can do conditioning exercises to help improve your golf game.

Here are some goals and activities that fulfill each of the three main exercise components:

Exercise component	Cardiovascular	Strength	Flexibility
Minimum goal	20 minutes 3 times a week	20 minutes 2 times a week	10 minutes daily
Example activities	Brisk walking Jogging Dancing Bicycling Gardening Hiking Swimming Racquetball Rowing Basketball Soccer Kick boxing Aerobics Water aerobics	Weight lifting Yoga Pilates Elastic bands Using your body weight for resistance with abdominal crunches, squats, lunges, and pushups	Stretching Yoga Tai Chi Pilates

No Pain, No Gain?

That's false! Keep in mind that pain is not part of exercise-if it hurts, you need to back off. The hardest part about starting a routine is going slowly to give your muscles time to adjust, so be patient and lenient with yourself. Do a little less than you think you can handle. You should be a little stiff the next day, but not sore. Don't resist listening to your body.

If you're carrying extra weight, I understand that can make activity less attractive and more uncomfortable. There are, however, things you can do to make exercise easier on your body: break up a daily exercise session into two or three bouts of 10-15 minutes each; wear supportive shoes that are not worn out; wear form-fitting exercise clothing made of a wicking fabric that draws moisture off your skin and dries quickly to prevent chafing; stretch before and after, but avoid moves that put too much stress on your lower back; and avoid exercises that put too much strain on your over-loaded knees (recumbent bike is a good exercise).

Get Going!

The ideas I've discussed here are goals, not rules. On days when you aren't able to meet your goals, remember that doing anything is better than doing nothing. And if you're still on the fence about exercising, understand that the health risks associated with inactivity and being overweight are far more severe than those risks associated with exercise or injuries from exercise. Fitness is fun, but it is a life-long process that will evolve as you do. In your quest for health, eating well and exercising can go together to help you achieve your goals. Now get moving!