This is the final piece in this series on the fundamentals for optimal health. While am a dietitian and I have no formal training in this area, nonetheless I would be completely remiss if I didn’t at least mention it: the final basic necessity to achieve True Health (as I see it, anyway!) is exercise.
There are two types of exercise: resistance (aka strength) training and endurance (aka cardiovascular) training. Resistance exercises are those which require using maximal strength for short bursts of time. Lifting weights is classic strength training. This type of exercise makes your muscles stronger and more powerful.
Cardiovascular training, as the name suggests, is good for your heart. This is exercise that you do for longer periods of time and which improves blood circulation through the body. Walking, running, biking and so on, all fit into this category.
So which should you do? There are plenty of debates over this one, but only if you’ve got an objective other than overall optimal health (i.e. exercise specifically for weight loss). But for good health? Both, of course! Does that mean you need to go out and get a gym membership? Not at all – unless you really want to.
If you want to be strong, you need to work at it. It’s a fact: any muscles you don’t use get weaker over time. Are you getting other people to carry your groceries? Laundry hampers? Milk bags? If you’re strong enough to do it yourself, then you should make a point of doing so. If you aren’t, then it’s important that you start somewhere to begin building strength. You don’t want to do anything to hurt yourself, of course, but you need to lift something that taxes you. You don’t need to go out and lift weights…there are plenty of weights you can find around the house, including the one’s I’ve just mentioned. Even lifting your own weight by climbing stairs or doing pushups count as great strength-training exercises. (Modified, or “lady pushups” give you just as good of a workout and will help you build enough strength to be able to do the unmodified version.) And if you want to get stronger by making someone else’s day, then give a kid a piggy-back ride – I’m sure you can find a family member or friend to “loan” you one for the purpose– or help a someone on moving day. Just make a point of working those muscles whenever you can, and your “strength training” will be in good hands.
If you are looking for something more structured, I strongly recommend a program called the 7-minute workout. When I’m “on the wagon”, this is what I myself use. You can check out the posts of my experiences with it here , here , and here.
As we age we gradually lose muscle mass unless we actively work to maintain it, and with that loss of muscle mass, our metabolism slows. A slower metabolism means that we burn fewer calories each day, so if we don’t eat less to correspond to less muscle, then our weight will increase. If you love food he way I do, exercise should be a priority…
For heart health, you need to move enough to increase the heart rate. Again, no need to join a gym or sports team, or have special equipment in the house; a simple walk after a meal, or going for a bike ride, tossing around a Frisbee with friends or family, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator for a couple of flights. (climbing stairs counts as both cardio and strength, as does swimming.) You don’t need to overdo it… make sure you just do it.
How much cardio do you need? If you can be active for 30 minutes daily (and it doesn’t have to be all at once) you’re doing well and your heart will thank you for it. There’s a great video below which I recommend viewing called “23 1/2 hours: what’s the single best thing we can do for our health?” As I mentioned earlier, cardiovascular exercise improves the circulation, and with that, nutrients are better able to get where needed, and toxins are more readily excreted…the whole body benefits in a multitude of ways, many of which are explored in the video.
So there you have it. There are two types of exercise, and both are important – so important, in fact, as to be fundamentals for health. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. I felt it was necessary to have all these fundamentals written down at least once as a reference both for my readers and for myself, but I’m looking forward to blogging again about nutrition in the news and other interesting facts.
Until next time!
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