I’ve been on this exercise plan for a little over a month now. (from The Hacker’s Diet, which I found through diveintomark – I’m only just now getting to the diet part – I’ve been tracking my weight, tho.)
so every morning (I usually allow myself one morning off a week) I get up and do dorky calisthenics, including running in place, for god’s sake. then I stretch, and occassionally do one of the knee-strength-building exercises that I learned after I hurt my knee last year. the whole thing takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how much I linger between exercises. I do this after I weigh myself, and before I get in the shower.
there’s been one immediate benefit: I feel more awake in the morning. this is useful on weeks like the one just past, where my sleep cycle was all tweaked.
the more gradual benefit (which I’ve seen as my stretches get deeper) made itself fully known yesterday. we drove out to point defiance and went walking in the woods. no big, right? because I walk a lot, still, and I can walk for hours with the right footgear. but we started jogging, for no particular reason, and it actually felt pretty good. didn’t get winded, calves only ached a little. (those who know me well will know what a big deal this is.)
I would even go so far as to say that this is the best shape I’ve been in for several years, at least since I quit the Y, and probably even longer ago than that.