-- EXERCISING REALITIES --
 

 So much is said about exercise in this world, what more could I add?  The answer is LOTS!

I get continually frustrated by the new proclamations of what is good, how much is good etc. when talking about exercise.  Let's get back to some basics:

• If it is not enjoyable for you, you will not keep it up.
• If it is not available to you, you will not keep it up.
• If it is not being done through an internal desire to get more active in life, you will not keep it up.
• If it is being done out of shame, guilt or similar, you will not keep it up.

When talking about exercise levels, some say two one hour sessions of really hard exercise is good, others twenty minutes of moderate exercise three or four times a week,.. where is the real answer?

If you are already reasonably healthy, or terribly unfit, the REAL answer is the same,.. as much as you can do and still smile about it!  Do not let work stop you, do not let feeling flat stop you,.. a funny thing is that when you make time and actually start doing activity, often (or always) it feels better once you are five minutes into it and the endorphins kick in a bit.

So what sort of exercise is best?  something you enjoy, something that is available to you and something you desire to do.  For me I like ice skating, going for a bush walk, getting on the exercise bike for a half hour most mornings followed by a bit of floor work (push-ups, sit-ups etc.) seems to get my day started off well. 

What it will be for you, I have no idea.  Let's look at some realistic ideas which count as exercise and are FUN!:

• Dancing - Latin, street Latin, rock and roll.
• Skating - roller blades, ice (maybe even have a play of non-contact hockey?).
• Walking or running clubs.
• Swimming - join a squad, water-polo, underwater hockey.
• Team sports - Field hockey, touch football, basketball etc.
• Racquet sports - tennis, squash, racquet ball etc.
• Adventure sports - indoor and outdoor rock climbing, mountain biking (clubs are good to learn with)

There are many other diversions, but if they do not get the heart rate up a bit and keep it up, they are diversions, not exercise. In this context they're still good for the soul, but not so much for the heart!.  You might find that investing in a good exercise bike works when you are building your fitness for other exercise regimens, becoming a means to an end, if not enjoyable in their own right.