Exercise is an important part of any healthy lifestyle. In fact, there is almost no condition that exercise can’t help you to improve, prevent, or manage. The benefits of exercise include managing type 2 diabetes, lowering blood pressure, managing stress, preventing heart disease and cancer. However, if you have a pre-existing condition or injury getting back into an exercise habit can be difficult. You may have limited mobility or you may need to find an exercise that won’t aggravate your injury. This is especially true if you have gained a lot of weight and you’re looking to incorporate exercise into your new, healthier lifestyle.

Walking is good for everybody.

Walking is easy, cheap, and safe for most people. You can move at your own pace, it is a low impact workout, and you can do it anywhere. When the weather is bad you can walk the mall or even walk laps through your home. Walking has been proven to help people lose weight, lower blood pressure, and improve overall health.

Swimming and water exercise classes.

If you have had surgery or suffer from joint-related issues your doctor may recommend that you participate in water exercise to strengthen your muscles and improve mobility. Exercising in the water is a good cardiovascular workout as well as easy on joints. The buoyancy in the water takes the pressure of your body weight off of the joints while gently creating resistance. Many public swimming pools have water aerobics classes that are suited to all fitness levels. And if that isn’t an option then a swim will give you similar benefits.

Turn your time sitting into workout time.

Light hand weights and exercise bands can be used to turn your time in front of the television into exercise time. Doing simple exercises with hand weights or exercise bands while you are sitting or even simple squats during commercial breaks can give you great benefits in the long run. It doesn’t seem like much but anything that raises your heart rate and engages your muscles will benefit you and your metabolism.

It is recommended that you get at least 150 minutes of cardio every week. That means you should raise your heart rate with exercise for 20-30 minutes every day. Consult your doctor before you begin any serious exercise program and remember it’s never too late to start.