What’s the Biggest Mistake People Make When Starting a Fitness Program?

Your title says "when starting", and as a older guy (62 this year) I've observed over the years the period of time it takes before people can expect to see a significant difference from beginning an exercise program.

I became interested in this when diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and then I started exercising. I took a low expectations, gradual approach, starting with goals of eating 20% less and exercising 20% more. I noticed many other people rushed into exercise programs and expected quick results, and usually were then disillusioned and gave up too early.

Here's the heuristic I have developed:

1. Take your age.

2. Divide by the number of times per week you exercise intensely, but in any case no higher than 3.

3. That's the number of weeks at which you will see and feel good results.

A simpler heuristic is to use your age in years as the number of intense exercise sessions, carried out in a continuous sequence, that you will need to do to see and feel good results.

What I mean by this target is that it gives the time when you actually do fell good results, and yet at the same time it is simply the start of the journey. It is the concrete reinforcement of the first step. Expecting more, in a shorter time, often leads to failure.

By the way, for "intensive" exercise I mean something at least equivalent to walking 100 paces per minute for 20 minutes.

Walter Adamson

http://walteradamson.com

Walter Adamson 7:53PM January 12, 2010