As a personal trainer, I understand the importance of nutrition, and its impact on the body. In regards to living healthy, your nutrition is responsible for a whopping 80% (give or take) of your health and well-being, leaving exercise at 20%. For this reason, hydration & sugar have come before exercise in our challenge. Finally, though, we have arrived at EXERCISE week. This week you will begin to work out at least 30 min for 5 days a week incorporating strength training into at least 2 of those days.
Exercise today is something we set aside time to do instead of it being our way of life. As you know, our bodies were created to move. All of our sitting today is causing our bodies to react negatively. Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels). Risks for cancer and cardiovascular diseases also increase with sitting for hours and hours at a time.
Many of us have desk jobs, so here are some ways to help stay active on the job:
- Stand while talking on the phone or eating lunch.
- If you work at a desk for long periods of time, try a standing desk — or improvise with a high table or counter—or try using an exercise ball, which engages core muscles, helps improve balance and flexibility as you sit.
- Walk laps with your colleagues rather than gathering in a conference room for meetings.
- Position your work surface above a treadmill — with a computer screen and keyboard on a stand or a specialized treadmill-ready vertical desk — so that you can be in motion throughout the day.
- Stay active throughout the work day. Set your alarm every hour; then, get up to take a stroll, do squats or pushups, stretch, walk while making a phone call, etc.
- Make your leisure time as active as possible. Reduce amount of time sitting in front of TV.
As you stand or actively move, you begin to rev your body’s engine again causing you to burn calories, reorient your skeletal system, and stretch your muscles. Just those few minutes away from your desk will also leave you refreshed helping your brain to focus a little better on the task at hand.
The CDC recommends adults getting 150 minutes total exercise throughout the week (30 min., 5 days a wk.) and 2 or more days of strength training that works all major muscle groups. Why is cardiovascular AND strength training important? You all probably know the answer to this question, but just in case…. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn because they consume calories around the clock, even when you’re resting and sleeping. Resistance training can also combat your bones deteriorating (osteoporosis) because as you put more tension on your muscles it puts more pressure on your bones, which then responds by continuously creating fresh, new bone.
When you’re thinking “cardio”, think interval training. Thirty minutes of interval training on your treadmill vs. thirty minutes of just steadily walking on your treadmill produces genetic changes! These DNA molecular changes within the muscles increase the production of fat-busting proteins. Besides lowered body fat, other benefits are improved muscle tone, firmer skin, higher energy levels, improved athletic performance, & boosted sex drive.
12 Weeks Total Recharge
Our 12 Weeks Total Recharge blog series is dedicated to help bring your body to a place of rejuvenation, a strong and lively place. Each week we will focus on a specific topic and provide key information to help achieve the best YOU. You can use the links below to view the previous and next post in the series or you can view all posts here.
Body Basics offers personal training, remote personal training and nutrition counseling at our facility in beautiful downtown Boise. Contact us to discuss how we can help achieve your goals for a better you.
Christine Kling
Co-owner and trainer at Body Basics
Christine's love for life, health and people effects everything she says and does. As a trainer, she strives to truly know her clients in order to encourage and motivate them in their own specific way. As a studio owner, she thoroughly enjoys laughing with her husband while creating a very welcoming atmosphere... Instructing others in the realm of fitness is not just her job but a privilege.