Senior Exercise: It's the Dickens when Great Expectations Cause a Bleak House!

Wow! A triple play in the title!

Dickens - Great Expectations - Bleak House!

C'mon, get in the spirit. At least chuckle a little!

Okay, let's see if we can figure out how my little trifecta can help the senior exerciser...especially a beginner.

Over the years I have started a lot of new exercise routines with great expectations. I was either trying something new, or had slipped and had to get back into shape. I have also known many people who began exercise programs and have read and heard about many others.

Most quit.

When I look back over the "reasons" for these failures, I, and others, can point to many of the "usual suspects"...lack of time, poor motivation, injury, etc. However, I saw a deeper, "root" cause in most cases.

Expectations were too high.

Either the exerciser expected too much of their exercise or themselves.

Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, both mental and physical, but, like so many things, you have to work at it over time to experience all the health benefits related to exercise.

Many people want their results "right now". When this does not happen, they quit and go looking for the next magic bullet. Their expectations of what exercise can do are too high...at least in terms of time.

Many people feel that to get their desired results as rapidly as possible, they have to do more. In most instances, especially for people who have not been exercising or who may be older or have health issues, their expectations of what THEY can do are too high.

One of the single most common reasons for people not attaining their goals with exercise is, quite simply, high expectations.

You have to start low and gradually increase the effort and intensity to prevent overextending yourself, and you have to be mature enough...inside at least...to give the yourself time to reap the health benefits of exercise.

How low do you start?

Well, low enough that you CAN AND WILL keep exercising. The literature of exercise is replete with stories of people who started exercising with cans of soup in their hands...or nothing. You hear of people who eventually ran marathons, but began by walking only a few feet.

The secret is to stay with it, and, to do that, you have to begin and progress in a way that will allow you to do just that.