Finding the motivation to exercise is really about how motivated you are about taking care of yourself. Ask yourself, “Do I take good care of myself?”, “Do I desire to feel good?” Yes!!! When we focus on our own self-care we make a commitment to sustaining our wellbeing. Exercise is just one way to take care of yourself.

Exercise does not have to be hard. You can start out slow and steady. When I made the decision to be good to myself, I decid...

How to Encourage Family Exercise

It sounds almost like a comedian's gag: How do you get a couch potato off the couch?

But there's nothing funny about the punch line, especially when that snack-munching bag of laundry propped up in front of the television is just a teenager or younger.

Or when the National Center for Health Statistics says that nearly 15 million youngsters in this country between the ages of ...

How to Achieve Your Exercise Goals

This may be the first year you've resolved to exercise regularly. Or perhaps you've failed at this resolution before and are trying again. Either way, you're more likely to succeed if you understand why many people fail to meet their exercise goals.

"People have expectations of achieving immediate physical changes from exercising, and when they don't see these changes occurring right away, th...

How can I stay motivated about exercising?

The longer you stick with an exercise program, the more likely it will become a permanent part of your lifestyle. Unfortunately, 50 percent of all people who start a program drop out within six months. Here are some ways you can stay motivated:

• Set goals. Make them realistic and attainable. Create a plan to achieve them.

• Exercise for yourself, not someone else. For you to be successful,...

How and Why to Keep a Training Log

Some people like to train intensely for peak performance. Others simply enjoy getting out and doing what they can. Either way, a training log can help you get more from your workout.

"Think of a training log as a planning tool," says Judith C. Young, Ph.D., executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education in Reston, Va. "It helps you organize and save informatio...

Walk Your Way to Better Health

Compared with other forms of exercise, walking can seem so ... pedestrian.

Running is dynamic. In-line skating is flashy. Biking has great accessories. But walking?

"Walking is still the most viable exercise option for most people," says Glen Duncan, Ph.D., an exercise researcher at the University of Florida College of Medicine. "You don't have the injury problems that can happen with runni...

Taking the Work Out of Your Workout

Are you having second thoughts about exercising? Good. Have some third thoughts, fourth thoughts and fifth thoughts as well -- positive thoughts.

The way you think about exercise can be the crucial factor in sticking with your fitness program. If you look on it as a disagreeable chore, it becomes one. But if you develop an image as an active, dynamic person, you'll be more likely to stick to...

Don't Enjoy Exercise?  Try Water Sports

Not everyone who spends time in a rowing shell does it to stay in shape. Some find the beauty of nature on the river; others enjoy the break from the daily grind of a fitness regime.

But rowing is just one of the many activities you can try when you head for the water. Canoeing, sailing, swimming, windsurfing, fishing, water-skiing, snorkeling, surfing, scuba-diving -- all these wat...

Finding Your Hidden Exercise Opportunities 

If you exercise for fitness, good for you. But if you spend the rest of your time behind a desk or lounging in an easy chair, you're missing some important benefits of physical activity.

"Your body -- and you -- function best in an active state," says George J. Pfeiffer, president of the Workcare Group in Charlottesville, Va. "The more often you get up and get moving, the better...

Getting Started with Exercise

Most of us understand that exercise can make us feel stronger, look younger, sleep deeper and live better. Health experts have been drumming that message into us for years.

But instead of getting more exercise, we're getting less. The U.S. Surgeon General says that more than 60 percent of American adults don't do the recommended amount of exercise -- and about 25 percent of us don't exercise at al...

How Much Exercise is Enough?

The Institute of Medicine's new stand on physical activity succeeded in one sense -- it sure raised a few heart rates.

The private advisory group's call for 60 minutes of physical activity each day seemed to double the Surgeon General's guideline of 30 minutes of exercise most days. The new advice was meant to get people moving, but some experts were moved to gripe.

"The concern is ...