By now, you should be convinced that there is more to exercise than simply fat loss, and that you have to exercise on a lifetime basis. You have to treat exercise like a drug to be taken at the right dose and at the right time. Here is your Zone exercise prescription:

• Exercise aerobically six days a week.

• Do strength training three days a week.

• On the three days you don’t do strength training, do stretching.

Although stretching won’t help you lose fat, build muscle, or decrease silent Inflammation, it will prevent the nagging injuries that can keep you from exercising. As you age, your tendons and ligaments become shorter, thus limiting your range of motion, especially as you strength train. Consider stretching to be a cheap insurance policy against exercise-induced inflammation.

A SAMPLE WEEKLY WORKOUT PLAN

Here’s what a typical Zone exercise routine should look like on any given week. You can see that you have a great amount of flexibility in choosing your weight-training or stretching exercises. Just try to make sure that you do at least one of each exercise during the course of a week.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

Rest Day

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes step aerobics

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes step aerobics

11 minutes walking in place

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes step aerobics

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes step aerobics

11 minutes walking in place

11 minutes step aerobics

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching

3 minutes weight training

3 minutes stretching