Getting Started with Exercise

People exercise for two reasons: performance and health. If you were an athlete as a teenager, your training focused on exercises to help you perform your sport to the best of your ability. Some adults continue to maintain the type of fitness needed to play competitive sports. But you don’t need to be an athlete to optimize your health, weight, and well-being.

Two Kinds of Fitness:
Performance-related fitness – for those who want to be able to excel in competitive athletics.

Health-related fitness – for those who are not interested in physical competition but want to reach and maintain a degree of fitness that allows them to get the most out of life.

Not everyone needs to be fit for performance, but everyone needs to be fit enough to be healthy. The Heart Institute Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre (HIPRC) can help almost anyone achieve health-related fitness. This kit will help you get started on the way to increasing your aerobic activity and improving your fitness. Even if you have been inactive for most of your life, it’s not too late to get started. Perhaps you have some experience with exercise, but have not been active on a regular basis. Or, maybe you are moderately active and feel ready to move on to more vigorous activity. Regardless of your current level of aerobic activity, this kit can help you. In this kit you will:

Step 1. Assess your current beliefs, attitudes, and level of physical activity
Step 2. Learn the many benefits of exercise and physical activity
Step 3. Select the type or types of aerobic exercise you will do first
Step 4. Use the F.I.T. prescription to develop your weekly exercise plan
Step 5. Know how to exercise safely
Step 6. Plan and record your activity for Week One

You will use this kit during the first few weeks of the program. Study the information in each section and complete all steps of the kit. Your mentor will help you set your exercise goals as a part of your Personal Action Plan.