Jump Start Exercise Routine – Stay the Course

Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmed Akhtar Former Surgeon General Pakistan Army

Pakistan has the highest incidence and mortality due to metabolic disorders, not only in the SAARC region but also the countries below the sub-Saharan region. Pakistan also has the shortest average life span of 67½ years. Srilanka the longest 76½, Bangladesh 71½ years. Bangladesh (the former East Pakistan) had much shorter life-span than the former West Pakistan (now Pakistan). Bangladesh has improved its life-span and other health parameters by adopting health promotion/ preventive measures.

Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmed Akhtar

It is an accepted principle that prevention is not only better than cure, it is the only cure and cost effective. Primary & secondary health services serve the purpose and is also cost-effective, in fact a panacea for poor countries.

Literacy/ education is very important for the progress of country in every sphere of life. Sadly, Pakistan’s literacy rate is not only the lowest in this region but also in the world. Quaid-e-Azam in his short life after the emergence of Pakistan, gave advice on every issue of the country/ state but we did not follow his advice, thus reaching the miserable situation, including the loss of half the country. The young bulge of population which is considered to be a positive promotional factor has turned into a burden. The literacy rate of Pakistan rose from 11% in 1947 to 58% by 2023. But India’s literacy rate rose from 12% to 76.3% over the same period and for a much larger population. Bangladesh took its literacy rate to 17% in 1971 to 74.6%, a remarkable difference. Sri Lanka has over 99% literacy rate since very long. It has universal health system and also universal education system, same for the President’s child and the ordinary person. Countries like Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, Ecuador etc. made remarkable achievements in health, education, economy etc. The low literacy rate and inadequate investment in education have led to decline in Pakistan.

Technological base, which in turn pampers economic modernization. The country’s poor economic performance is a lack of higher literacy rate. Our rulers (elite capture ores) both bureaucrats and others are oblivious of this state of affair. There are infact two Pakistanis, one living in gated localities, and the other in shanti towns/ slums even caves near cities like Islamabad etc. Only 20% people are getting potable water, whereas 80% are deprived of it. Likewise for poor sanitation/ drainage etc. There is emphasis on motorways, expressways, avenues, disease palaces/tertiary health-care etc. which should have been the last priority.

For the promotion of health (physical and mental) and prevention of disease, proper diet, good sleep, exercise and adequate hydration is essential. The scribe has discussed these aspects in many articles published in the fortnightly pulse. It is quite often seen that many individuals do not continue performing exercise and then find difficulty in resuming exercise. It is believed that the human beings hunted for food, used to conserve energy for this purpose by taking rest therefore as an involuntary process, large number of people stop doing exercise.

Motivation

I have seen in my practice that exercise leads to prolonged healthy life. Trying to radically change your behavior that can be hard to sustain. Set measurable bite-size goals, such as getting at least ten minutes of exercise daily. Pushing yourself too hard and too fast will only make you more prone to exhaustion and injury and may lead you to stop working out.
You are more likely to repeat an activity you enjoy, so try picking up a sport you liked in high school or bundle your work-out with bingeing your favorite TV show or podcast. And cap how much you exercise, at least in the beginning, so that you can meet and even exceed your goal. This will encourage you to keep going.

People get hyper fixated on cultivating motivation. You just need to do a little bit of something then the motivation seems to come after.

Schedule Muscle Building

1. Once you are back into the swing of regular physical activity, start incorporating muscle exercises to build muscle strength and flexibility. This will help to do more strenuous activities and protect your joints from injury.
2. Try bodyweight exercises like pushups or squats at home or use weight machines at a gym. Most experts recommend doing three sets of eight to twelve repetitions for each exercise focusing on your form. Then add one or two exercises weekly until you are working out all muscle groups (chest, back, shoulder, arm, abdomen and legs) at least twice a week.
3. Add resistance when you are ready or switch from a fixed number of reps to working out your muscle exhaustion. You can determine when to start this by assessing your rate of perceived exertion. On the scale of 1 to 10, you should be just about in the middle. If it feels easier than that make your workout more challenging.

Gradually Increase Endurance

4. No matter what kind of exercise routine you choose, you will need to work on cardio-vascular endurance. Most people can start with low impact activities by walking or just taking the stairs at the office. Strive to extend how long you can do light cardio by a few minutes every couple of weeks. Your heart’s ability to pump blood also known as its stroke-volume. Improves fairly quickly.
5. In just the first 10 days of training, we see about a 10% changes in peoples strokes volume, this means you will be able to work out far longer. You want to build a 150 x 300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity every week to get the best benefits.

Celebrate Little Steps

6. Prepare for the things that have tripped up your fitness routine in the fast. For example, if you skipped exercising because you did not have time to fit into your day, consider setting reminders to workout at 6 am, noon 5 pm so you can make at least one of those times or try exercising in short bursts. Squats or balance on one foot while brushing your teeth or stash some hand weight at your desk to do a few reps while you are on cab.
7. If your inner critic says you should stop because you are never going to see results practice saying something like “I have got this. I am already stronger than I was when I started”.
8. Celebrate little steps towards fitness. Take pictures or do a monthly exercise assessment to measure your progress or ask yourself whether it feels to carry your groceries, just remember it can take time to notice outward changes. This is a life-style change, so you need to go in with the philosophy that you are going to try and keep improving fitness for life.