Make the right choice of exercise

Having been convinced that exercise is necessary for well-being and that an appropriate amount of daily dose of aerobics is the requirement, we need to move to the very important issue of choosing the right one that suits your requirements and constraints. Here are a few tips:

• Brisk walks: This is the form most frequently prescribed by doctors. What you need to assess is where can you take your walk, and how safe is it for you? If you are in a gated campus or near a park or the botanical garden, you are lucky. If you wander on the streets especially in the early pre-dawn hours. You could be in for trouble. Enthusiastic walkers being knocked down by rogue drivers or attacked by criminals is increasingly becoming common. Hence safety should be a pre-condition. Also, the vagaries of weather, during monsoons, foggy winters and desiccating summers should not cause long interruptions.
• Going to the Gym. I think it is a good method for 3 reasons: the weather cannot play spoil-sport; you have several options to add variety to your exercise, and last but not least, provides a sense of compulsion once you have paid up. Further, when you see others struggling too, you realize you are not alone in your endeavour.
• Cycling: Excellent exercise, especially for those with creaky knees as it is non-weight-bearing. The safety concerns mentioned under walking, however apply here too.
• Games: Games such as shuttle, tennis, squash or golf are excellent because they add the extra value of entertainment that the previous three do not. When you play a game, you cannot help but challenge your opponent, and in doing so, your own body as well. Further, group activities are more motivating. Our tennis session in the morning was the best way to start the day for many years. Golf is unique in the sense that you do not need a partner or an opponent, as you challenge your own self. It is however time consuming and expensive and the family may resent the long hours you spend away from home on weekends.
• For out-door games, weather does become an interrupting factor. Our paunches used to become prominent during monsoons and the foggy winter weeks. Switching to an alternative (shuttle for instance) that could be played indoors, was an effective strategy.
• Gadgets at home: This can be very effective and practical, provided, and let me state it in capitals, PROVIDED, you are the disciplined type with loads of will power. I have seen several people clutter their homes with treadmills and cross-trainers that they do not put to use.

This list is neither complete nor exhaustive, but should help you decide how to approach the issue of choosing the right exercise. Also it is good to change the form every few months so that it does not become repetitive and boring.

Pant your way to healthy excitement!

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 2nd March, 2014.