Did you begin 2012 with the resolution to get healthy? Three weeks into the New Year, how are you doing with that resolution? I always say that improving your health consists of simple things: a healthy diet, lots of water, adequate sleep, and exercise. Let’s talk about exercise.
Our bodies are designed to move.
When we’re not in movement, we’re stagnant. Our lymph system is a system that is designed to detoxify or help rid our blood system of waste products or toxins. It’s an anaerobic system, and it doesn’t move unless you move. Thus, your natural detoxing machine becomes stagnant. So if you’re sedentary, you’ve already got more toxins in your body.
Movement is key.
Again, our bodies are designed to move. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 15 minute walk every day, an hour of aerobics, yoga or twenty minutes of weights three times a week. Whatever kind of rhythm you can incorporate is going to help.
You don’t have to be obsessive about exercise.
Some people don’t bother to exercise because they feel that if they don’t get in an hour of exercise six days a week, then it’s not worth it. Not so. Take a walk in the morning, at lunch or in the evening. Take advantage of our nice weather when you get home from work, and take a walk. Walking and swimming are considered some of the best overall exercises for your body.
Exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym.
You can do everything at home:
- You can buy an exercise tape and do it at home.
- They have Wii fit now; a lot of my patients are doing Wii fit because they have various activities and exercises that are really fun.
- There’s a fabulous station on cable or YouTube called Fit TV that has core training, belly dancing, yoga, stretching, ball exercises, ab workouts - everything.
- As we age it’s really important to incorporate some weight-bearing exercise for our bone density and our muscle tone because you lose muscle tone as you age. So, you can combine walking with small dumbbells.
- It’s important to stretch if you sit all day. Remember – our bodies are designed to move.
It’s more about cross-training.
The more well-rounded you can make your exercise by combining different activities, the better.
- Cardio
- Weight-bearing exercises
- Stretching/deep breathing
- Fun
Don’t leave out the fun of exercise.
If there’ something that you really enjoy, like hiking in the mountains or dancing, seek it out because if you’re going to have fun at it, you’re going to be more prone to do it regularly and to stick to it.
Stick to It!
That’s really the key with everything. Be consistent. Do whatever you need to do; go to the gym, exercise at home, go for neighborhood walks, or play at the beach. Exercise is extremely important to your well-being and is necessary to enable your body to do what it’s supposed to do.
So don’t give up on yourself...you can do it!
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