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If you skip this step, any exercise you do could be detrimental to your health.

Without a complete physical and the OK from your doctor, you running the risk of having a heart attack or some other injury or sickness.

Once you have been checked out, your doctor will be able to advise you on what areas you need the most improvement in and what areas you need to avoid to avoid injury.

Safe exercise will mean that you can participate in an activity that will build your health without hurting yourself in the process.

Safe exercise is also important so that you can continue your exercise program throughout your lifetime.

The next step in your safe exercise program is your local health club. When you sign up, you should get a free consultation with an exercise trainer who is on staff with the club.

This instruction should help you understand the ways to safely use the club’s exercise equipment to ensure you have a safe exercise program. Once you have had this basic training, you should be able to pursue a safe exercise program on your own.

But you don’t have to stop there.

The next step in your safe exercise program could lead you to the services of a personal trainer. Personal trainers will be able to lead and guide you along a path that will ensure you are pursuing a safe exercise program.

A personal trainer will be able to help you stay motivated and on track with your safe exercise program so that you can make continual progress. And if you make steady progress, then you will be less likely to do rash things that could injure yourself.

So as we said earlier, exercise is important but safe exercise is the key to an exercise program that will provide lasting benefits and pay continual dividends in good health and happiness.

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That’s where home fitness equipment comes in.

There is a large array of home fitness equipment that you can buy and most are very reasonably priced. There are multi-station home gyms that offer as much benefits as those at a gym membership.

Find out how to get Fit Over 40

There are a number of benefits to having a home gym:

• No travel time
• No membership fees
• No waiting for someone to finish
• Workout on your schedule

When you are looking for home fitness equipment, you need to determine what your specific requirements are and you need to decide on a budget.

You can start your shopping online if you really want to save money and you want a large selection. Most online dealers can carry a larger inventory because of lower overhead costs.

If you want to try the fitness equipment out before you buy then do your shopping at a local home fitness dealer. Just make sure that you find one with a large selection for you to choose from.

A lot of people find that once the home fitness equipment is set up in their home that they actually use it and find it an enjoyable way to relax and get fit.

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Does it seem like every year you seem to put on a bit more weight?

Has the gasping for breath at the top of a flight of stairs made you think about trying to improve your fitness level, or lack of?

You know you should make time to exercise and you probably want to. You may have even joined a health club before today, but didn’t stay long!

It’s tough in this modern world of careers, kids and wanting the latest toy!

Most of us are time poor. But, what will the repercussions be later in life, if we don’t set aside 20 minutes a day to exercise?

We all know that exercise conditions our body. Our mood improves, it helps prevent osteoporosis and heart disease, it keeps our weight down, it strengthens our heart and lungs, it helps us to sleep better, improves our sex life and it can be fun.

So with all these amazing benefits, why do most of us procrastinate about exercise?

Well, the reason is, the mind has an amazing ability to create a list of excuses about why we shouldn’t exercise.

You may have found yourself using these excuses at one time or another:

It’s too early in the morning!

Getting your exercise done in the morning (before the day starts) is a great idea. However it is very tempting to hit the snooze button. Just think how guilty you will feel all day, knowing you didn’t get your exercise done.

It’s too cold or it’s too hot!

If it’s cold, dress warmer or exercise inside. It won’t take long to warm up once you start exercising. If it’s hot, exercise in the early morning or later in the afternoon. Gyms and fitness centers are all air-conditioned so this is no excuse.

I’m too tired!

Even more reason to exercise. Exercise energizes you and you’ll feel fantastic when you’re done.

My knees hurt, my muscles are stiff!

Keep going but reduce the intensity and change the type of exercise. If your knees hurt ride a bike or go for a swim.

I don’t have the right shoes or the clothes!

Training shoes and clothing can be bought fairly inexpensively nowadays. eBay is a great place to buy inexpensive trainers and have them delivered to your door!

I’m too fat and I will look stupid!

Regular exercise, with the right diet, will strip all that excess weight in no time. The trick is to start and keep consistent. It looks better seeing an overweight person out walking, rather than in a MacDonald’s!

I want to sit down and relax for 5 minutes!

The problem with sitting down is the 5 minutes turns into 10 minutes, which turns into 30 minutes. Exercise first and then sit down afterwards. You’ll find that after exercising you’ll be energized and won’t feel like sitting down.

I’ve just eaten!

There is no better time to go for a walk than after a meal. Keep the intensity lower and think of those calories burning.

I can’t leave the kids alone at home!

Take them with you and make a game of it, or swap baby sitting with a friend. Most modern gyms offer child care services.

My spouse won’t come with me and I don’t want to go on my own!

A long walk on your own is a great time to reflect and think. Keep at it and your spouse will be motivated to join you.

There is a good show on TV!

TiVo is a wonderful invention, so having to watch a good show on TV is no excuse. Record the show, get your exercise done and watch the show afterwards, commercial free.

I’m on vacation!

There is no better time to start exercising and get into the habit of exercising, than when you are on vacation. Use your free time being active and you will return home feeling even more relaxed and vibrant.

At some stage we will all have our excuses as to why we don’t exercise today or tomorrow. The truth is, most of the excuses are trivial compared to the massive benefits of exercise.

A stronger heart and lungs, the help in preventing osteoporosis and heart disease, the weight reduction, better sleep and a better sex life are major benefits of exercise that are too important to ignore.

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Big mistake!

I paid for it the next day… my calves were so sore I could hardly walk!

I was in agony!

Muscle soreness has been known to cause many new exercisers to discontinue exercising. And if I didn’t know any better, I would probably have given up. The truth was, my muscle soreness was self-inflicted and could have been avoided.

And, no, not by not exercising!

Some seasoned exercisers will experience muscle soreness “the day after” a different type of exercise or workout. They find muscles they never knew they had!

What is muscle soreness?

It’s usually caused by an overload workout. It is the breakdown of muscle fibers, which causes the release of muscle cell content. The cell content attracts inflammatory cells, which release chemicals that irritate nerve fibers, causing pain.

But “No Pain No Gain“ right?

Wrong! Muscle soreness is NOT an indicator of a good workout. Muscle damage is often greatest in older or otherwise susceptible muscle fibers.

So, how do you ease muscle soreness?

Here are 8 ways:

1 - Massage Away The Muscle Soreness - Start slowly! Lightly massage the sore muscle and gradually increase the depth of the massage. It might be painful in the beginning but it will gradually ease the muscle soreness.

2 - Hot Bath The Muscle Soreness Away - Nothing beats a long soak in a hot bath for muscle soreness. The heat will increase circulation and provide a soothing effect.

3 - Flush The Muscle Soreness Away - Run hot (as hot as you can bear) water over the sore muscles for two minutes and then immediately switch to cold water for 30 seconds. Repeat this process five times. This has the effect of opening and closing your blood vessels which will flush the acid from your muscles and ease the soreness. It is easier to take a complete shower and do this, but it takes some courage!

4 - Gently Exercise The Muscle Soreness Away - Go for a slow walk and breathe deeply. This helps reduce the muscle soreness by increasing the blood flow to the sore muscles.

As always, prevention is better than cure. It is easier and less painful to avoid muscle soreness. Here’s how:

5 - Warm Up Before Your Work Out - Muscles are working parts and like any working parts they need to be warmed up before any demands are made on them. A warm up before your workout is essential to avoid muscle soreness, but more importantly to avoid injury. It starts the circulation to the muscles and warms the muscles and tendons, getting them ready for the next muscle soreness avoidance tip - stretching.

6 - Stretch Those Muscles - After your warm up your muscles need to be stretched. It’s very easy to skip this step or do some hasty stretches, but you will pay for it the next day or with an injury. If you are going for a walk or jog you want to stretch your legs and back. If you are doing an upper body workout then you need to stretch your shoulders, neck and upper back. Don’t bounce in the stretch and hold it for 15 to 20 seconds. Stretch each muscle just to where you begin to feel the stretch then maintain that position until you feel the muscle let go. Bouncing or trying to stretch too far will do more harm than good.

7 - Stretch After Your Workout - Stretching after your workout is important to avoid muscle soreness the next day. After your walk, jog or workout, make sure you stretch your muscles for 15 to 20 seconds before they cool down. They will be warm and elastic so they will stretch well.

8 - Don’t Be A Hero - Going out and training hard might feel great at the time, but when you wake up with stiff and sore muscles the next day you will be tempted to take the day off from exercise. You should start slowly, exercise within your capacity. Make the exercise enjoyable with moderate exertion and only increase the intensity by a maximum of 10% the week after week. This will allow your muscles time to adapt and prevent muscle soreness and injury.

The BIG secret is “Don’t do too much too quickly!”

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My name is Ian McConnell and this blog is dedicated to people like me… People that are over 40 and need some conditioning. There is nothing worse than doing some gardening and waking up the next day with sore muscles. Or playing with the kids for an hour and feeling puffed.

The years seem to catch up to us… the mind is very willing, we don’t really feel our age, but our body soon screams out.

Well some consistent and gentle conditioning will quickly sort that problem out… so stay tuned. I’ve got lots to tell you.

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