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A lot of different physical activities can improve your health and independence. Whether you choose to do the at-home exercises or other activities that accomplish the same goals, see that you gradually work your way up to include all four areas of fitness: endurance, strength, balance, and stretching.

Here are some points to keep in mind as you begin increasing your activity:

If you stop exercising for several weeks and then return, start out at about half the effort you were putting into it when you stopped, then gradually build back up. Some of the effects of endurance and muscle-building exercises deteriorate within 2 weeks if these activities are cut back substantially, and benefits may disappear altogether if they aren't done for 2 to 8 months.

When an exercise calls for you to bend forward, bend from the hips, not the waist. If you keep your entire back and shoulders straight as you bend forward, that will help ensure that you are bending the right way, from the hips. If you find your back or shoulders humping in any spot as you bend forward, that's a sign that you are bending incorrectly, from the waist. Bending from the waist may cause spine fractures in some people with osteoporosis.

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How to combine activities

It is possible to combine exercises to derive maximum benefit. For example, regular stair-climbing sessions improve endurance and strengthen leg muscles at the same time. When you are exercising for the first time, you may have trouble keeping up with even the minimum amount of exercise. So see to it that you begin with a schedule that your body is comfortable with and build it up slowly and in stages from there. Never do strength exercises of the same muscle groups on any two days in a row. Instead alternate muscle groups. You could do strength exercises of the upper body on Monday and every alternate day thereof and those of the lower body on the other days. Important is to begin exercising gradually and then work up to a regular schedule.

Your schedule will go thus:

Sunday " Stretching
Monday " Endurance
Tuesday " Strength / balance " all muscle groups
Wednesday " Endurance & Stretching
Thursday " Strength / Balance " all muscle groups
Friday " Endurance
Saturday " Stretching

Listen to your body. Each person's endurance limit is different. What might be a moderate exercise for one will be strenuous for another. The fact is that whatever effort you are putting in is likely to be in proportion to what actual physical measurements would show. For example, if your body has indicated that you should stick to moderate exercise, you will realize during your workout that you are not overstretching yourself but doing things at a moderate level.

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Warm ups and cool downs

Increase your levels as you become more fit. For example, from walking on a flat treadmill, you can progress to a steep tilt " but gradually and in stages. This is one way of building endurance gradually especially if you have been inactive for long. Keep a fitness goal in mind and work up slowly to a greater level " from moderate to vigorous that will increase your breathing and heart rate. Remember to do a bit of warm up exercises before you begin to do any vigorous activity and cool down properly before you come to a complete halt.

Endurance exercises are any activity - walking, jogging, swimming etc that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time.