And you thought aerobics, pilates and tai chi are the only exercises
And you thought aerobics, pilates and tai chi are the only exercises to keep you healthy?
Here are things you have to keep in mind about exercises:
1. Aim to have at least 60 minutes a day of activity.
2. The rule of thumb is to have at least 3 types of activities to keep your system healthy:
a. endurance - helps your heart, lungs and circulatory systems stay healthy and give you more energy. It includes walking, dancing, tennis, gardening, golfing, cycling. Ideally, you want to be able to carry on a conversation as you are exercising.
b. Flexibility - helps you to move easily, keeping your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile. This is where your bending and stretching comes in. Examples of these are stretching exercises, T’ai Chi, yoga, curling, bowling, gardening
c. strength - Activities help your muscles and bones stay strong, improve your posture and help to prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Strength activities are those that make you work your muscles against some kind of resistance, like when you push or pull hard to open a heavy door. Make sure you do a combination of activities that exercise the muscles in your arms, mid-section, and legs. Strive for a good balance-upper body, lower body, right and left sides and opposing muscle groups. Examples of these are weightlifting, raking and carrying leaves, climbing stars, exercises like abdominal curls and push-ups.
When you think of doing an exercise for the whole 60 minutes at once, chances are you'd be pooped before you even did the initial 10 minutes. To achieve the 60 minute goal..try to go for a 15 minute walk in the morning, 15 at mid day and 15 after dinner. Do some stretching when you wake up, keep those muscles stretched before you start your day. You should also increase your effort and have a variety of activities as you progress.
The best time to exercise is one hour after eating. After meals, your blood sugar levels peak and your aim there is to bring that blood sugar down or burn the energy that you just added to your system.
Try going around the block for 10 minutes and then increase your walking by adding another block each day. Make sure that you sway your arms to incorporate flexibility and strength in your walk.
Some women have expressed their fears that weightlifting makes their arms look muscly and ugly. Did you know that it is the muscles that burn the fat? You need not be lifting 50 lb weights to satisfy this requirement..all you need is a consistent 5 lb lift to develop those muscles to burn those fat and tone your sagging (ouch) skin.
So do some bending by picking up those clutters in your living room..lifting by carrying those grocery bags from the grocery store and taking the stairs instead of the elevator when going up to your office next time.
Here are things you have to keep in mind about exercises:
1. Aim to have at least 60 minutes a day of activity.
2. The rule of thumb is to have at least 3 types of activities to keep your system healthy:
a. endurance - helps your heart, lungs and circulatory systems stay healthy and give you more energy. It includes walking, dancing, tennis, gardening, golfing, cycling. Ideally, you want to be able to carry on a conversation as you are exercising.
b. Flexibility - helps you to move easily, keeping your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile. This is where your bending and stretching comes in. Examples of these are stretching exercises, T’ai Chi, yoga, curling, bowling, gardening
c. strength - Activities help your muscles and bones stay strong, improve your posture and help to prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Strength activities are those that make you work your muscles against some kind of resistance, like when you push or pull hard to open a heavy door. Make sure you do a combination of activities that exercise the muscles in your arms, mid-section, and legs. Strive for a good balance-upper body, lower body, right and left sides and opposing muscle groups. Examples of these are weightlifting, raking and carrying leaves, climbing stars, exercises like abdominal curls and push-ups.
When you think of doing an exercise for the whole 60 minutes at once, chances are you'd be pooped before you even did the initial 10 minutes. To achieve the 60 minute goal..try to go for a 15 minute walk in the morning, 15 at mid day and 15 after dinner. Do some stretching when you wake up, keep those muscles stretched before you start your day. You should also increase your effort and have a variety of activities as you progress.
The best time to exercise is one hour after eating. After meals, your blood sugar levels peak and your aim there is to bring that blood sugar down or burn the energy that you just added to your system.
Try going around the block for 10 minutes and then increase your walking by adding another block each day. Make sure that you sway your arms to incorporate flexibility and strength in your walk.
Some women have expressed their fears that weightlifting makes their arms look muscly and ugly. Did you know that it is the muscles that burn the fat? You need not be lifting 50 lb weights to satisfy this requirement..all you need is a consistent 5 lb lift to develop those muscles to burn those fat and tone your sagging (ouch) skin.
So do some bending by picking up those clutters in your living room..lifting by carrying those grocery bags from the grocery store and taking the stairs instead of the elevator when going up to your office next time.
posted by ting-aling at 1:47 PM
4 Comments:
very informative, as usual and great tips on how to make those muscles work. We who have no more time for other things because of work should know how to make use of our time in the office to be active. Thanks for this post.
Yes these are really helpful because I thought that playing (sports) regularly is enough.
Bayi, 'ever heard of the 10,000 steps? The Japanese people believed that to fulfill the required daily activity, you have to have 10,000 steps a day. They even came up with a meter that you can attach either to your hips or your arm now to count your steps everyday and they call it the pedometer. I haven't tried it but I tried counting my steps when I go to work and home. It's possible. Every step counts, that is everytime you move your leg, it is counted..so cool stuff.
Ting-Aling is correct, Bayi. Great post! =)
Post a Comment
<< Home