🠶Five Safety Guidelines

for

Exercising
🠶Regular exercise extends your life, improves
your ability to do daily activity, enhances your
mood and reduces your risk of chronic disease,
(notes MayoClinic.com. )
🠶Although exercise can be life-enhancing,
improper or sloppy execution can cause injury
or medical complications. Follow specific safety
guidelines to keep your experience with exercise
positive and your body healthy.
 1. Doctor Clearance

🠶For most people, regular, moderate-intensity

exercise, such as walking and cycling, is safe.
If you haven’t exercised in a long time, are
unsure of your health status or are pregnant,
you should speak to your doctor before
beginning any new exercise program. For
people with heart disease, asthma, lung
disease, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease
or arthritis, a pre-exercise consultation with
your doctor is imperative.
🠶 The American College of Sports Medicine also
recommends you consult with your doctor prior
to exercise if you are a man older than 45 or a
woman older than 55. You are also at a greater
health risk if you have a family history of heart
disease before age 55. If you smoke, or just quit
in the past 6 months, are overweight or obese,
have high blood pressure or high cholesterol or
have been diagnosed with prediabetes, you
also need to see your physician as a precaution
before exercise.
 2.Hydration
🠶Exercise increases your need for water, one of the
most essential components of the human body.
Failure to drink enough water can lead to lack of
coordination, fatigue, failure to properly cool, heat
stroke, cramping and loss of energy. You may
develop debilitating cramps and lose energy. The
American Council on Exercise recommends
drinking 17 to 20 ounces of water in the three
hours prior to exercise.
🠶You should also drink about 8 ounces just before
you work out or during the warmup. Every 10 to
20 minutes of exercise, gulp down 7 to 10
ounces. After your workout, go for at least 8
ounces of water within 30 minutes. During the
rest of the day, drink about 16 to 24 ounces of
fluid for every pound of body weight lost during
your workout. If you are an endurance athlete
going longer than 90 minutes or if you sweat
profusely in shorter workouts, hydrate with sports
drinks that contain sodium and other electrolytes.
 3.Proper Technique

🠶 Injuries at the gym can be prevented if you take the time to

learn proper form and technique for the exercises you do. If you
are new to weightlifting, for example, consider investing in at
least one personal training session to be coached on proper form.
Improper form can lead to joint injuries and muscle pulls. Even
experienced exercisers benefit from coaching prior to starting a
new regimen. The growing popularity of workouts using
equipment such as kettlebells, cables and strongman techniques
raises the risk of injury. Consult a certified trainer or coach to
learn the principles of the movements before trying them on
your own.
 4.Warmup and Cooldown

🠶Every workout should include a warmup and

cooldown. A warmup primes the cardiovascular and
muscoskeletal systems for the stimulation of
exercise. During exercise, a significant amount of
blood is directed to working muscles. A cooldown
helps facilitate the normal circulation of the blood to
the heart. Without proper warmups and cooldowns,
you are more vulnerable to muscle strain, dizziness
and muscle soreness.
🠶A warmup can consist of light aerobic activity,
such as marching in place or jogging on a
treadmill. Including some joint-mobilization
movements, such as hip and arm circles, is
also an essential part of any warmup. A cool
down usually consists of lighter activity and
some stretching. Make the warmup and cool
down last at least five minutes.
 5.Start at Your Level

🠶Enthusiasm about a new exercise program can

cause you to do more than your body is ready for.
You might become overheated or suffer from
extreme soreness when doing too much too soon.
If you haven’t exercised in a while or are brand
new to it, begin with just 15-minute bouts of
exercise, suggests the Cleveland Clinic.
🠶Over the course of several weeks, extend the
time you spend moving by three to five
minutes each session until you reach about 30
to 40 minutes on most days. Even if you have
taken just a few weeks off, dial back your
intensity when you first come back to make up
for the hiatus.