Did you exercise today? There is one truth for everyone with a body, man or woman, “Use it or lose it.” Whether you have a body like Michael Jordan, or you haven’t exercised since high school gym class, your body is shaped by two things…your genetics and your experiences, including injuries & habits.
Your genetics, like it or not, you cannot change. Your habits, you can choose. Especially if you have a desk job, remember: Habits are what you do. What you will have done is what you do today. What you do today is what your habits will be.
Walking is the ideal exercise for the human frame. The possibility of injury is minimal, & the benefits are tremendous. People’s bodies are designed to walk. Unfortunately, many people spend much (if not most) of their lives sitting. We drive to work, sitting. We work at a computer, sitting. We eat lunch, sitting. We sit to drive home, and then we sit on the couch and read or watch TV. The result: A body that is conditioned to sitting.
Sitting uses some muscles too much and some muscles too little. Overused muscles become too tight and the underused ones get too weak. Plus, the joints become stiff from inactivity. The result is called de-conditioning. This is why we have de-conditioned 35 year olds (or 55, or 75 year olds) saying that they are “out of shape”.
This de-conditioned person will either:
1. Continue the habit of inactivity and become progressively more de-conditioned with age. This person is much more likely to suffer with arthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular or other health problems, and a generally lessened quality of life.
2. Attempt to begin a habit of regular exercise, but discontinue the habit because of:
A- Injury
B- Boredom
C- Inability to find time
D- Lack of desire to make the time.
3. At some point:
Begin a LifeHabit of regular exercise.
Here are 7 tips to make exercise a part of your daily life.
1. Do something rather than nothing.
If people would just get out and walk, they’d be amazed at what it can do for them. People are surprised when they learn they don’t have to kill themselves to benefit from exercise.
2. Set realistic goals.
Whether you exercise to improve your appearance or general well-being, or both, any professional will tell you a critical key to success is setting realistic goals. To be achievable, they must be based on your current level of fitness, not a what you did 20 years ago or what your friends do.
3. Make it fun.
Exercise shouldn’t be a chore. It should be a prescription for healthy living. Going to the gym and pumping iron or climbing to the top of the Empire State Building on a stairmaster isn’t bad, if you enjoy it. But if you aren’t enjoying it, perhaps climbing to the top of stone mountain once a week would be a fun incentive to motivate you to walk around the neighborhood the rest of the week.
4. Exercise at your own level.
Avoid injury, exercise addiction, and burn-out by exercising somewhere between ‘I can do this forever,’ and I can only do this for a few minutes.
5. More isn’t always better.
Research shows that more than an hour of aerobic exercise, and/or more than four days of strength training, makes it MUCH more likely that an exercise program will not become a LifeHabit. The intensity is just too high.
6. Don’t worry about what you’re burning.
Body fat loss is relative to calorie balance over time. It doesn’t matter if you’re burning fat or carbohydrates during exercise, you’re still burning energy. As long as you burn more energy (calories) than you consume, you’ll be healthier.
7. Don’t try to spot reduce with sit-ups.
Do crunches properly, for the abs. Unfortunately, most people work their hip flexors rather than their abs when they try to work their stomach muscles. To work the abs, do crunches. Lie on your back with your legs bent, and feet flat on the floor. Press your lower back into the floor and use your abs to come up about 15 to 20 degrees, and slowly lower. Try to keep the muscles contracted as you lower.
