Clarence F. Robison, “Keeping Physically Fit,” Ensign, Sep 1972,

I'm a little bit discouraged. I did my 2 week weigh in and I only lost 1 pound. oh well, I guess if I keep going at that rate I can make my goal but everybody knows the first few are and should be the easiest to lose. boo!

A good exercise program can bring about a physical rehabilitation. Greater than this can be a personality rehabilitation. With this comes a new lease on life, with an improved self-image and the ability to relax and live more freely with everyday problems and stresses. These are not mere speculation; they are scientifically proven facts with predictable results.

1. No one program will solve the needs of all. You must adapt to your age, present health condition, sex, available facilities, time, etc.

2. Get a physical examination before launching into any vigorous program. Follow your doctor’s advice about the extent of your exercising.

3. Start slowly and gradually increase your exercise over a period of many weeks. No crash program is desirable. You may have spent thirty years getting into your decrepit condition; do not try to correct it within thirty days.

4. Make it a family affair. After all, your children are the leaders of tomorrow. Do not neglect their education on fitness, as yours may have been.

5. Make it fun. To begin with, any strenuous exercise is going to hurt physically if you are grossly overweight and markedly out of shape. But stay with it until the original torture period is over, and then adopt those activities that are most enjoyable. If it isn’t pleasurable eventually, you will never continue with it.

6. This is a lifetime program. Don’t plan to get into good shape and then go back to your old sedentary way of life. You may change the activities as improved physical condition permits, but your need for exercise will never change.

7. You are competing against yourself only. Do not try to keep up with anyone else or his program. You are trying to improve yourself, not defeat your neighbor. Keep records, and measure your progress against only yourself.

8. Never run or perform to exhaustion. When you finish a workout, there should be something left. Overfatigue will defeat your whole program and can be dangerous.

9. Your workouts must be regular. If you cannot be regular, little or no fitness endurance will result. An occasional marathon of work is dangerous and foolish; it’s the steady, every day or every other day (no less than three days a week) workout that brings the desired results. If you miss a week or two, don’t try to catch up. Start easy and slow again and work up to your former regularity.

10. Watch for danger signals. Dizziness, chest pains or tightness, lightheadedness, or nausea are reasons for discontinuing the exercise program and continuing only after your doctor’s okay. One noted authority on fitness recommends that participants take their pulse rate after each workout. The pulse rate should drop below 120 within five minutes after the workout and below 100 within ten minutes. If it doesn’t, slow down—you’re overdoing it.

11. Wear loose-fitting clothes that are porous enough to allow for adequate ventilation. Don’t wear any rubberized clothing, and wear comfortable shoes with a wide cushion sole.