Not everyone will admit this, but there's something magical about exercise. Your brain produces endorphins in response to vigorous exercise and you feel energized, alert, and alive. You derive tremendous satisfaction from doing something you said you'd do. You feel good about yourself all day long. Beyond these benefits related to personal fulfillment, regular vigorous exercise builds strong muscles and bones and strengthens your cardiopulmonary system. Your heart and lungs become substantially more efficient. Your heart pumps more blood with every beat and your lungs take in more air with every breath. Your entire physiology, that is, every one of your cells, tissues, and organs, benefits from a consistent program of regular exercise.
Yet, remarkably, there's more. Medical researchers and public health policy makers have long known that regular vigorous exercise helps improve the health of people with diabetes, heart disease, many types of arthritis, and even cancer. But more recently, within the last couple of years, scientists have been finding that exercise causes lasting changes in the configuration and functioning of human genes.
As we all know, our genetic inheritance is encoded in complex, tightly wound strands of DNA. Our genetic code comprises only four nucleotides - adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine - biochemical structures whose precise sequence contains all the information required to produce a living human being. (Some fun facts: There are approximately 3 billion "base pairs" of DNA in a human cell. A single uncoiled strand of DNA is approximately 3 feet (1 meter) in length. In contrast, human cells average 25 millionths of a meter in diameter.). Up until 10 or so years ago, it was generally accepted that genes (specific sequences of base pairs) controlled all protein formation and all physiologic functioning. But within the last 10 years, numerous discoveries have demonstrated a variety of additional factors that contribute to individual genetic expression. One such mechanism involves "epigenetics", the process of "tagging" genes with small "side groups" or "markers". The attachment of a methyl side group (—CH3), an action known as methylation, modifies a gene's expression, boosting its output or turning it off completely. Researchers have now consistently demonstrated that regular exercise influences and even reprograms the epigenetic pattern of methylation.1,2
One study has demonstrated that exercise-associated methylation patterns impact genes associated with energy metabolism and insulin response in muscles.3 These findings, if reproduced by follow-up studies, would go far toward clarifying the role of exercise in relieving the symptoms of many chronic diseases.
The conclusion is that not only does exercise make you look good and feel good, it also exerts a profound effect on the most basic components of human physiology. Our long-ago high school gym teachers who exhorted us in seemingly endless rounds of sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and squat thrusts knew what they were doing. It's up to us to continue the program.
1Denham J, et al: Exercise: putting action into our epigenome. Sports Med 44(2):189-209, 2014
2Ronn T, et al: A six months exercise intervention influences the genome-wide DNA methylation pattern in human adipose tissue. PLoS Genetics 2013 Jun;9(6):e1003572. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003572
3Lindholm ME, et al: An integrative analysis reveals coordinated reprogramming of the epigenome and the transcriptome in human skeletal muscle after training. Epigenetics 2014 Dec 7:0. [Epub ahead of print]
Mao Asada, Silver Medalist in Ladies Figure Skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics, landed three triple axels in the competition, a feat no competitor had done before. There are no easy figure skating jumps, spins, or technical elements, but the triple axel is particularly difficult. This jump has many moving parts, all of which must be exquisitely coordinated in order to land safely on the ice with the specified number of turns in the air.
How does a person put together all the various pieces of this beautiful and daring feat? Certainly not by thinking about them. The timing of the triple axel, as with all figure skating "tricks", happen in a matter of seconds. The individual moving parts happen in split seconds. So thinking about what's coming next will cause the skater to fall and ignominiously sprawl on the ice.
Well-executed triple axels, triple flips, and triple salchows are things of beauty, grace, and athleticism. Double and single jumps are wondrous too, and require very high levels of skill and coordination.1,2 A skater learns how to do these things well by practicing, training, and developing a keen ability to focus. The hours, days, months, and years of training teach a skater's body how to do these jobs well. For the most part, thinking is not part of the process. Thinking gets in the way because we cannot think at skating speed.
How can we bring a skater's level of excellence to our own training? Whether we're lifting weights, doing yoga, riding a bike, walking, running, or swimming, a high level of commitment is needed in order to get the results we want.3 A half-hearted effort won't get the job done. If we truly want to be healthy and well, regular exercise is required. Our commitment involves planning our time efficiently so we can exercise at least 30 minutes each day.
Also, we need to be sure we're getting as much as we can out of our exercise time. We're exercising to train our heart, lungs, muscles, bones, and joints. If these various body parts and systems aren't communicating well, some or much of time spent exercising will be wasted. The best way to ensure optimal functioning of all our physiologic systems is to make sure our nerve system is operating at full capacity. Chiropractic health care is directed at fulfilling this need.
Regular chiropractic care restores and maintains full functioning of the nerve system. All body systems then function effectively and you're able to derive maximal benefit from your exercise. Your body becomes smarter and able to perform at high levels. You develop new physical skills and abilities. You may become more creative, you may sleep better, and you may have more fun in life.
1Tanguy SG, et al: Are otolithic inputs interpreted better in figure skaters? Neuroreport 19(5):565-568, 2008
2Lockwood KL, et al: Landing for success: a biomechanical and perceptual analysis of on-ice jumps in figure skating. Sports Biomech 5(2)231-241, 2006
3Rinne M, et al: Is Generic Physical Activity Or Specific Exercise Associated With Motor Abilities? Med Sci Sports Exerc February 13, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)
If a great Shakespearean protagonist had, anachronistically, joined a gym, his internal existential inquiry might have been, "To lift or not to lift?". Many centuries later, the identical inquiry, or controversy, persists. Joining a gym (health club) usually implies the new club member is going to engage in strength training in one form or another. Such exercise provides an abundance of benefits and is a valuable lifestyle choice for most people. But the possibility of injury exists. The key to safe, beneficial exercise is to learn how to do strength training correctly, then develop a plan, and follow the plan.
Government health and wellness guidelines recommend doing 150 minutes of (at least) moderate exercise per week. This translates to at least 30 minutes of exercise five times per week. Strength training is an important component of any exercise program designed to fulfill these recommendations. In combination with cardiorespiratory exercise, strength training greatly improves muscular capabilities and endurance. Your body becomes fit, toned, and honed, and as a result, you become much better equipped to successfully manage the mechanical stresses and strains that everyone encounters during the course of a normal day.1-3
If you are new to strength training or haven't done this form of exercise in a while, then the most important rule is to start slowly. Scientifically determine how much weight you should be lifting by experimentation. Choose a very light weight and see whether you can do eight repetitions with that weight comfortably. If it's difficult to do eight reps, then start over with the next lighter weight. If it's too easy to do eight reps, then start over with the next heavier weight. If eight repetitions feels just about right, then that's the weight with which to begin that particular exercise. Follow these steps for each of your exercises and you'll have established your beginning routine on a personal and safe foundation.
Strength training need never become boring, as you can change your routine with almost infinite variety. For example, for a 12-week period you could do chest and back exercises one day, then leg exercises a second day, and shoulder and arm exercises a third day. You would do your cardiorespiratory exercise on the remaining two days (for a total of five weekly days of exercise). During a different 12-week period, you could do cardiorespiratory exercise on three days and do arm and leg exercises on one day and chest, back, and shoulder exercises on a second day. Or you could choose to "work light" and exercise all your body parts on a single day. You could do your total-body strength training two or three days a week, filling in the other days with cardiorespiratory exercise. The only guideline in the context of these routine designs is whether the routine works for you. If it works, then it works.
As with all exercise programs, the more consistent you are, the greater long-term benefit you'll derive. Be sure to build-in recovery time by taking a week off here and there for rest and recharging. A modern Hamlet would find his or her exercise time enjoyable and rewarding, and would answer the perplexing question with a resounding, "Yes. I will lift."
1Granacher U, et al: The importance of trunk muscle strength for balance, functional performance, and fall prevention in seniors: a systematic review. Sports Med 43(7):627-641, 2013
2Grier T, et al: The effects of cross-training on fitness and injury in women. US Army Med Dep J Apr-Jun:33-41, 2015
3Liu Y, et al: Effects of combined aerobic and resistance training on the glycolipid metabolism and inflammation levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Phys Ther Sci 27(7):2365-2371, 2015
These are very good points. With expanded research funding it may be possible to fulfill the assumptions of parametric analysis with greater confidence.
Cross-training refers to a combination of different methods of exercise. Specifically, cross-training refers to the combination of strength training and cardiovascular training in your overall exercise program. Whether you're a 14-year-old just starting out on your first fitness program, or whether you're a 74-year-old who hasn't exercised in more than 40 years, cross-training will provide optimal results for the time and effort you spend on exercise.
In cross-training, it's not that you're doing aerobic and strength-training activities simultaneously. Rather, you're incorporating both methods in your weekly exercise regime. One week you might do three sessions of strength training and two sessions of cardiovascular activity. The next week you could do three sessions of aerobic exercise and two sessions of strength training. The result is that, overall, approximately half of your exercise time is devoted to each of these two methods.
The remarkable outcome of combining two distinctly different training modes is that both sets of results are enhanced.1,2 Doing cardiovascular exercise on alternate days makes you stronger. In other words, your muscular strength and size are greater than they would be if strength training were your only form of exercise. Correspondingly, doing strength training on alternate days provides you with heightened cardiovascular gains. Specifically, your stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped on each contraction of your heart muscle) and vital capacity (the amount of air you can take in on each breath) are greater than the results you would have obtained by only doing aerobic exercise.
The benefits of cross-training are automatic. There's nothing you need to do intentionally to achieve these gains, other than engaging in your cross-training program five days a week. When you train your heart and lungs by doing cardiovascular (really, cardiorespiratory) exercise, your skeletal muscles automatically participate in your walking, running, biking, or swimming activity. When you do strength training, exercising your chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs (on different split-training days, of course), your heart and lungs automatically participate, pumping the extra blood and breathing in the extra oxygen required for any vigorous physical activity.
The synergy created by the cross-training format potentiates the results obtained from each method.3 The improved performance of your heart and lungs, derived from aerobic training, enables greater strength training gains. A stronger musculoskeletal system, derived from training with weights, causes your heart and lungs to become more efficient to meet new demands. A positive feedback loop is established from which you obtain improved health and enhanced wellness and well-being.
The best time to begin your new cross-training program is today. Start slowly, increase duration and intensity gradually, and evaluate your gains at 6- and 12-week intervals. Your chiropractor is experienced in exercise rehabilitation and will help you design a cross-training program that works for you.
1Fournier SB, et al: Improved Arterial-Ventricular Coupling in Metabolic Syndrome after Exercise Training. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2014 May 27. [Epub ahead of print]
2Kolka C: Treating Diabetes with Exercise - Focus on the Microvasculature. J Diabetes Metab 4:308, 2013
3Dos Santos ES, et al: Acute and Chronic Cardiovascular Response to 16 Weeks of Combined Eccentric or Traditional Resistance and Aerobic Training in Elderly Hypertensive Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Strength Cond Res 2014 May 19. [Epub ahead of print]
Thanks to effective public health campaigns regarding healthy lifestyle choices, many people have incorporated regular, vigorous exercise, a nutritious diet, and getting sufficient rest in their daily routines. For many people, an additional important component of a healthy lifestyle is regular stretching.
Regular stretching provides numerous benefits, including enhanced flexibility and adaptability of your musculoskeletal system, that is, your bones, muscles, and joints.1 As a result, regular stretching helps improve overall mobility and range of motion. Regular stretching helps reduce injury by improving circulation, bringing increased supplies of oxygen and critical nutrients to the large muscles of your thighs and legs and the small muscles of your back. As a bonus, regular stretching helps to reduce stress. It's clear that stretching activities provide a very big return for a modest investment of time and effort.2,3
In order to derive the greatest benefits from your stretching program, knowledge of stretching "best practices" is essential. First, it's critical to conceive of stretching as a journey rather than a destination. In stretching, we have to give up all our notions of how much we think we should be able to achieve. On any given day, our muscles will be tighter or less tight. On any given day, it will be "harder" or easier to obtain the stretchability of the day before. The best practice is to pay attention to your body, focus on what you're doing, and work with what you have on a particular day. This "centering" approach is in direct contrast to trying to force your muscles to conform to the stretching length you think they should achieve. Using force while stretching will always result in injury. Instead, the activity of stretching calls for a calm, steady, and methodical approach.
What is it that you're doing when you stretch? Primarily, you're using a process of visualization. You're visualizing the particular muscle getting "longer". When you do a stretch for your hamstring muscle group (there are three muscles that comprise this group), you have an image in your mind of the muscles of the back of your thigh and you're "seeing" these muscles lengthening. You're not actually "doing" anything other than performing the activity of the stretch itself. In other words, you're not actively making the hamstrings longer. But you are "seeing" them lengthen in your mind, and the result is an effective stretch, that is, increased length and flexibility of the hamstring group.
Pictures of the quadriceps muscle group (the muscles on the front of your thigh), the hamstring muscle group, the calf muscles (the surface gastrocnemius and the deeper soleus), and your spinal muscle groups will provide great assistance with your visualization process. Such images are widely available on the Internet. Your "Zen-like" process of visualization will make your 10 or 15 minutes of stretching time more effective and may also be applied to various other tasks throughout your day, providing additional ongoing benefits to your health and well being.
1Peck E, et al: The effects of stretching on performance. Cur Sports Med Rep 13(3):179-185, 2014
2Morrin N, Redding E: Acute effects of warm-up stretch protocols on balance, vertical jump height, and range of motion in dancers. J Dance Med Sci 17(1):34-40, 2013
3Avloniti A, et al: The Acute Effects of Static Stretching on Speed and Agility Performance Depend on Stretch Duration and Conditioning Level. J Strength Cond Res 2014 Jun 17 [Epub ahead of print]
Game-changing plays in any sport and at any level are tremendously exciting. Whether we're watching Pop Warner football, middle school recreational soccer, high school basketball, or Major League Baseball, an extraordinary athletic play makes us stand up and cheer. If our team takes the lead as a result, so much the better.
Attempting to make a game-changing play is known as swinging for the fences. But forcing the action in this way is not always a good idea. People who want to be healthy and well can gain value from considering the contrast between swinging for the fences vs. staying within themselves.
For example, if you've played any team sport for any length of time, you know a little bit about what this feels like. Bottom of the ninth, your team is two runs down. You're at the plate with two runners on base. What's going through your mind? Hit a home run, that's what. One swing, game over. Forget situational hitting, you're swinging for the fences.
Or you're the quarterback of your football team. Your team is behind but the score is close. You know you need to make a momentum-shifting play. You've got years of mental images in your head of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady using the vertical part of the field, going downfield, way downfield. You call the play, take the snap, drop back three steps, and heave the ball toward your wide receiver racing to the corner of the end zone. The Hail Mary pass you've just thrown is the football equivalent of swinging for the fences. But your deep pass could just as easily be intercepted instead of resulting in the difference-making touchdown.
The analogy holds true in all sports. The game-winning penalty kick in soccer. The thundering, momentum-shifting slam dunk in basketball. The dominating volleyball kill shot which drains the spirit from the opposing team. Each key moment is a sport-specific swing for the fences. Again, the opposite result could just as easily occur.
We can see that striving to make a big play is often a mistake and can easily lead to a loss. Forcing the action never works. Smart athletes stay within themselves, letting the game come to them. The best athletes are able, more often than not, to rise to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself. Then, in the context of the flow of the game, you'll see the baseball flying over the fence or the beautifully arcing touchdown pass floating into the hands of the receiver.
This is especially true regarding exercise. When it comes to exercise, slow and steady wins the race.1,2,3 Trying to do too much usually results in an injury, which sets you back and wastes precious time in the recovery process. In strength-training, for example, lifting big weight is not the goal. Progressive, incremental gains are what build lifetime fitness. Aerobic exercise is similar. Going for a five-mile walk is a bad idea if you haven't walked at all in six months or more. Going for an eight-mile run when you're used to running three miles is another bad idea. Gradual increases in time and distance are what works.
Swinging for the fences is great when it happens. In exercise and fitness, achieving a personal best is cause for celebration. But in exercise and fitness, personal bests result from much effort and preparation. When you have a long-term, solid base of fitness, you can swing for the fences with confidence.
Strength training, otherwise known as weight training, is one of those activities that provides a wide range of benefits for the person who does it regularly. Like yoga, strength straining makes all your muscles stronger, enhances flexibility, and improves cardiovascular capability and capacity. In fact, two strength training sessions per week combined with one or two yoga classes per week will lead to super-fitness for most people within only a couple of months.
Strength training is beneficial for teenagers, young adults, and older adults.1 Many strength training exercises are done in a weightbearing position, and the process of doing reps and sets with a modestly or moderately heavy load makes your bones stronger. Not only muscles, but also the soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system, including tendons, ligaments, and joint cartilage, are made sturdier by receiving increased supplies of oxygen and other nutrients. Engaging in a regular program of strength training will provide more restful sleep, rid your metabolism of accumulated toxins, add sparkle and tone to your skin, and improve your overall sense of well-being. All at the low price of two to three hours per week.
The key question is how to begin. Many books and online training videos are available. Most fitness centers offer a complimentary lesson or two with a personal trainer to enable you to learn the basics. Simply put, you want to train all of your major muscle groups once per week. For example, you can exercise your chest and back muscles on one day and your shoulders and arms on another day. If you're also doing one or two yoga classes per week, or one yoga class and two walking or running days per week, your leg muscles are covered.2
Let's say this is your chest and back day. Ideally you'll do three different exercises per body part. For your chest you could do lying-down (supine) bench presses with dumbbells, supine flies (in which you hold the dumbbells overhead and then open your arms out to the side), and incline bench presses with dumbbells. For your back, you could do one-arm rows, supine dumbbell pullovers (in which you use both hands to hold one dumbbell overhead and then lower the dumbbell all the way behind your head), and lat pulldowns on a machine. All together, doing these six different exercises, three sets per exercise, should take about one hour.
Then, two or three days later in the week, you do strength training for your shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Shoulder exercises could include seated overhead presses, standing lateral raises, and seated bent-over rows. Bicep exercises could include seated alternate incline curls, machine bicep curls, and seated concentration curls. Tricep exercises could include push-ups, lying (supine) tricep extensions, and machine tricep pressdowns. Again, these nine different exercises, three sets per exercise, should take about one hour.
There are many video clips available on the internet that demonstrate the mechanics of each of these exercises. Good form is critical. In fact, making sure your posture is balanced and your abdominal muscles are activated is more important than the amount of weight you are lifting.
Beginners, especially, need to know how much weight they should be using on each exercise.3 Importantly, lifting too much weight too soon will usually lead to injury. Of course, we want to work-out as safely as possible. Choose a weight at which you can comfortably do eight repetitions. If you can't do eight, the weight is too heavy. If eight repetitions with a particular weight seems ridiculously easy, try again with a weight that is 10% heavier. Repeat the process until you find the starting weight that is comfortable for you. There are many types of weight progression programs that you will employ as you become accustomed to the weight-training process. The main point is to begin to engage in this highly beneficial form of exercise. As your mastery of these techniques slowly improves, a new world of fitness, fun, and satisfaction will be revealed.
1Conceicao MS, et al: Sixteen weeks of resistance training can decrease the risk of metabolic syndrome in healthy postmenopausal women. Clin Interv Aging Epub Sept 16 2013
2Karavirta L, et al: Heart rate dynamics after combined strength and endurance training in middle-aged women: heterogeneity of responses. PLoS One 2013 Aug 27;8(8):e72664. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072664
3Van Roie E, et al: Strength training at high versus low external resistance in older adults: Effects on muscle volume, muscle strength, and force-velocity characteristics. Exp Gerontol Epub ahead of print
Interval training is an important part of aerobic exercise. If you're a walker or a runner, run intervals once a week. Walking and running build endurance by strengthening your cardiovascular system. Doing interval training once a week enhances your endurance by dramatically increasing the amount of blood your hear pumps every time it beats.1 (This is known as your cardiac stroke volume.) Interval training also increases the amount of oxygen you can take in on each breath.2 (This is known as your respiratory vital capacity.) The result is that you have noticeably increased speed and increased reserves when you need a prolonged burst of energy.
The same principles apply for any type of aerobic activity. . The interval system is easy to apply. For example, if you're a swimmer, you can do interval training with laps. If you ride a bike, you can do intervals with timed sprints.
There many books and magazine articles available to help you add interval training to your aerobics program. If you're doing aerobics exercise three times per week, you could use one of those sessions for interval training. Interval training is very powerful and the most important thing is to build up gradually.
To begin, you need to have a good base, meaning you do aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes. Using running as an example, you might be running 10-minute miles in at a fast "race pace". Ten minutes per mile is 2.5 minutes per quarter-mile. On your interval day, warm up by lightly jogging 1 mile. Then run four quarter-miles at a pace a bit faster than your race pace. In this example, you could run four quarter-miles at 2:25 or 2:20 per quarter. Then finish by lightly jogging for another mile.
Over time, your interval pace gets faster. You could do intervals with half-miles, three-quarters of a mile, or even a mile, if your weekly mileage supports such an interval distance. Most of us will see remarkable benefits by doing quarter-mile or occasional half-mile intervals.
One obvious result is that your resting pulse drops like a stone, because your heart is being trained to pump more blood each time it contracts. In this way, you save wear and tear on your heart. Owing to your heart's stroke volume, your heart beats less during the course of the day to provide the amount of blood you need flowing to your tissues.3 The takeaway is that your heart will last longer because you're doing intense vigorous exercise. That's a pretty remarkable result.
The bottom line is that interval training makes you stronger and faster. Your heart and lungs get a terrific workout with each interval training session. There's a big payoff for this once-a-week activity.
"To stretch or not to stretch." That wasn't exactly Hamlet's question. The Prince of Denmark had matters of state to consider, especially the most effective method to avenge the murder of his father. Getting ready for his next fencing lesson had taken low priority.
But for the rest of us who aren't Nordic princes, matters of fitness are in fact akin to matters of state, namely the state of our bodies. Your fitness choices are critically important to your health and well-being. Also, your overall approach to fitness activities matters a great deal, such as how you get ready to do the exercise things you're going to do.
The question of stretching has been debated for many years, going back to the early days of popularized forms of strength training in the 1960s.1,2,3 "To stretch or not to stretch" really was and continues to be the question. Proponents of stretching actively and vigorously defend their position. Those who believe that stretching has no value, or may even be harmful, are equally assertive. There is evidence in the scientific literature to support both sides. A person who wishes to derive the greatest benefit from her time spent exercising is, like Hamlet, in quite a quandary.
But there's no need to vacillate and mimic Hamlet's notorious exploration of doubt and indecision. The way forward, as always, is to do what works for you. For example, if you are naturally flexible there might not be a need for stretching. People who can just flop over and put their hands on the floor from a standing position already have one benefit that stretching provides. Their hamstrings and lower back muscles are already pretty loose. A contrasting example is the person with naturally tight muscles. Many such people would actually strain a back muscle or a hamstring if they tried to bend over and touch the floor without any preparation.
In the world of fitness, what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. If you're a person who would benefit from stretching, you need to stretch. But not everybody will benefit. For some, time spent stretching is time wasted. You find out by stretching before a few exercise sessions. If your muscles feel "long" and limber and your joints feel freely moveable, then stretching is probably a good thing to do. If your muscles and joints don't feel any different from the way they usually do, in other words, you were already pretty loose to begin with and stretching didn't add any noticeable benefit, then you're probably a person who doesn't need to stretch.
If you're stretching, the next question becomes whether to stretch before or after exercise. Again, there are proponents of each approach and some authorities suggest that stretching both before and after is the way to go. Explore the various possibilities and determine the most effective method for you. Most importantly, get regular vigorous exercise and have fun doing it.
1Gartley RM, Prosser JL: Stretching to prevent musculoskeletal injuries. An approach to workplace wellness. AAOHN 59(6):247-252, 2011
2Stojanovic MD, Ostojic SM: Stretching and injury prevention in football: current perspectives. Res Sports Med 19(2):73-91, 2011
3Samukawa M, et al: The effects of dynamic stretching on plantar flexor muscle-tendon tissue properties. Man Ther August 2, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)
Here comes summer! Fun in the sun. Barbecues, fireworks, and cool drinks. And outdoor activities - hiking, biking, running, swimming, skating, blading, and even canoeing.
Getting back into shape seems like a very good idea right about now. We want to look good in our shorts and tee shirts, and more importantly, we don't want to be huffing and puffing. We want to be able to do what we want to do without having to think about limitations or restrictions.
How to return to fitness? There are three main areas on which to focus - losing some weight, doing aerobic exercise, and doing some weight-training.1,2
Whether you want to lose five, ten, or twenty pounds, the easy-to-follow principles are the same. First, eat several (five or six) small meals each day. Each small meal contains about 300 calories and your total daily intake is between 1800 and 1900 calories per day. This might be a significant reduction for many people, so be sure to check with your doctor and get his or her OK to begin such a food plan.
Each small meal contains both protein and carbohydrate. This food-combining principle retrains your body's metabolism and helps you become a lean machine. Food combining optimizes energy utilization and evens out insulin levels throughout the day. This is particularly important for people who are hypoglycemic or pre-diabetic. Again, check with you doctor to be sure such a plan will work well for you.
Returning to aerobic fitness is very important for summer activities. Get out of your house and begin a walking program. Start with ten or fifteen minutes of easy walking. Add a minute each day, building up to thirty-minute walks over the course of three or four weeks. When you can walk for thirty minutes easily, increase your pace. Again, increase your pace gradually over several weeks.
Treadmills, stationary bikes, stair machines, and elliptical machines all provide excellent aerobic workouts. The key, as with walking, is to build up gradually to a high level. Interval training methods are also valuable and improve cardiovascular efficiency. Interval training involves alternating intense and slow periods of activity.
Weight-training tones muscles, trains your body to do physical work, and causes your metabolism to burn fat while you're resting, so there are a wide variety of benefits here. Many excellent books and magazines are available to help you begin a weight-training program. Workout with a knowledgeable friend. Hire a personal trainer for four weeks and learn enough to be able to workout on your own. The physical and psychological benefits are well worth the time and effort.3
Now you're fit and well-prepared to enjoy all that summer has to offer. The final tip is to be sure to stay hydrated all day long. Drinking water is the most important nutritional advice anyone could give to anyone.
1Simkini-Silverman LR, et al. Lifestyle intervention can prevent weight gain during menopause. Ann Behav Med 26(3):212-220, 2003
2Knuttgen HG. Strength training and aerobic exercise: comparison and contrast. J Strength Cond Res 21(3):973-978, 2007
3Kraemer WJ, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34(2):364-380, 2002
