"The best physical activity is the one that is enjoyable enough to do regularly."

Children and adolescent can find advice on how to be active from many sources, including fitness professionals, health-care providers, books, and Web sites. Besides some of the known health benefits from physical activity. There are other commonly used motivators for doing the deed:

1. Personalizing the Benefits of Regular Physical Activity

Children and adolescents need to identify benefits of physical activity that are of personal value to them. For many  the health benefits are compelling enough. For others, different reasons are key motivators to be active. For example, physical activity:

1. Provides opportunities to enjoy recreational activities, often in a social setting;
2. Improves personal appearance;
3. Provides a chance to help a spouse lose weight;
4. Improves the quality of sleep;
5. Reduces feelings of low energy; and
6. Gives older adults a greater opportunity to live independently in the community.

2. Setting Personal Goals for Physical Activity

The Guidelines alone don’t provide enough information for individuals to decide the types and amounts of activity that are appropriate for them. Individuals should set goals for activity that allow them to achieve benefits they value. Simple goals are fine. For example, a brisk walk in the neighborhood with friends for 45 minutes 3 days a week and walking to lunch twice a week may be just the right approach for someone who wants to increase both physical activity and social opportunities.

In setting goals, people can consider doing a variety of activities and try both indoor and outdoor activities. In particular, public parks and recreation areas in the United States offer opportunities to experience nature and be physically active at the same time.

3. Utilizing fitness activity monitors

Pedometers 

One helpful component that can make physical activity unique and successful is the pedometer.

1. The power to simplify. Pedometers can simplify things for you and your team members. The burden of having to keep track of the time or Distance (mi) walked is eliminated since the pedometer is already monitoring your activity.
2. The power to motivate. The pedometers can a tremendous motivator for anyone who uses it. Users of the device have claimed that simply knowing the number of steps they have taken pushes them to go further and meet their goal.
3. The power to compete. Monitoring the steps each team member takes in a day gives you a way to make the program competitive. Knowing that a prize is at stake can really get participants moving.

Pedometers

Many people wear their pedometer all day. By simply walking to a further parking space, walking your children to school, walking your dog, taking a stroll with a friend during lunch you can boost your number of steps from 4,000 to 10,000 on an average day without making walking a major activity. Your pedometer will tell you exactly how many steps you have taken You can also use your pedometer just to track your number of steps, Distance (mi), calories and even your speed when taking walks. If the pedometer is keeping you walking or walking more, you are using it correctly.

Here’s how to wear the pedometer to get the most accurate reading:

1. Wear the pedometer snugly against your body, attached to a belt or the waistline on your clothing. If your clothing doesn’t have a waistband, you can attach your pedometer to a piece of elastic tied around your waist. Try to have the pedometer line up vertically with the crease of your pants or te center of your knee caps.
2. The pedometer should be parallel to the ground. If it is tilted to one side or another, it will not give you an accurate recording of your steps.
3. Wear it all day, but make sure it is comfortable against your skin.
4. Clip firmly to your waistband or belt.
5. Make sure you can read the display without removing it from your waistband.
6. Take care not press the wrong buttons accidentally or you may erase all your data for the day.

Here’s how to use your pedometer to lose weight

1. Use your pedometer for one week without changing your activity level. Just do what you always do. Every night before sleeping, write down how many steps you took that day. At the end of the week, get your average. This is your baseline.
2. Ask yourself how you can increase the number of steps you take by 10-20 percent.
3. You be the judge of how fast you can increase the number of steps you take until you reach 10,000-15,000 steps a day.
4. If it's your first time using a pedometer and you discover that you are already taking 10,000 steps but you are overweight, you can either increase the speed at which you walk or increase the number of steps you take.

There have been cases of people needing to walk 18,000 steps to lose weight, usually because they did not want to make changes in their eating habits.

Heart Rate Monitors

A heart rate monitor will help everyone exercise effectively, stay motivated and get results. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that for heart health, heart rate be monitored during all exercise to determine the appropriate amount of exertion for each individual. A heart rate monitor is a powerful tool for making heart health exercise activities more effective and time efficient, safer and equally as important, much more fun. A heart rate monitor is not just for structured exercise and can help turn any activity into a workout.

Heart Rate Monitors and Motivation

Statistics show that over seventy percent of the people who start an exercise program will quit within the first six months - and many within the first few weeks. What makes it so hard for individuals to stick with an exercise program? Why do they give up so quickly? One of the primary factors affecting adherence to exercise is a loss of motivation.

Most people start an exercise program with a specific goal or need in mind that becomes the driving force or motivation behind their desire to exercise. However, many individuals run into common obstacles that cause them to lose sight of these goals and begin to lose their motivation to keep going.

Fortunately, a heart rate monitor can provide the solution to many of the obstacles that stand in the way of success in an exercise program.

A Heart Rate Monitor Keeps You in Your Zone

If you want to reach your exercise goals, it's important to stay in your target heart rate zone during workouts. A heart rate monitor is your constant reminder of the intensity and quality of each workout session. Nothing keeps you in your zone more accurately than a Polar Heart Rate Monitor.

A Heart Rate Monitor Shows Your Progress

It takes four to six weeks of consistent exercise before you begin to see any external changes to your body. Although you can't see them, internal improvements begin to take place immediately. Your heart rate is efficiency rating for your entire body. As your fitness level improves, your heart rate improves along with it. A heart rate monitor gives you a physiological window into your body's response to the daily improvements in your physical health.

A Heart Rate Monitor Eliminates Frustration

If your heart rate is too low during exercise your body reaps little or no benefits. This means you're not likely to see the results you want, like weight loss or increased endurance. If your heart rate is too high during exercise you may tire too quickly and become frustrated, or even run the risk of injury. In either case, you're likely to quit exercising because you're not getting the results you want or because it's simply too difficult. A heart rate monitor keeps you exercising by showing you results that you otherwise would not see.

A Heart Rate Monitor Keeps You Safe

Exercising too hard can put you at risk for injury. A heart rate monitor reminds you of the safe and effective heart rate intensity in which you should exercise and warns you when you leave that safety zone.

A Heart Rate Monitor Gives You Accurate Feedback

Polar Heart Rate Monitors are 99% EKG accurate so you know exactly what your level of exercise intensity is during workouts. Pulsemeters have a high margin for error and manual pulse measurements during exercise can result in errors as high as plus or minus 15 beats per minute - with the risk of potential error increasing as heart rate increases