What simple thing you can do right now that increases your chance of living longer!
Exercise!!! Yes, you heard me right. Exercise.
According to the CDC:
Science shows that physical activity can reduce your risk of dying early from leading causes of death, like heart disease and some cancers. This is remarkable in two ways:
Only a few lifestyle choices have as large an impact on your health as physical activity. People who are physically active for about 150 minutes a week have a 33% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who are physically inactive.
You don’t have to do high amounts of activity or vigorous-intensity activity to reduce your risk of premature death. Benefits start to accumulate with any amount of moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity.
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm#
But what is exercise?
Exercise is simply movement. Any type of movement can be categorized as exercise. We don't have to set aside time on a regular basis to go to a gym or to do a specific routine. Exercises are just movement and the more movement we can get into our daily practice and daily lives, the more overall benefits we will feel. Some familiar types of exercise or movement that you may know of are walking, running or jogging, playing sports, strength training at a gym, Pilates, yoga, ballet,and dance. All of these are different types of movement. And all of them have benefits. Of course, they all have challenges as well. So it's important to find the right kind of exercise for your body and I'm here for you if you need help.
Now let's talk about some simple health benefits. According to the CDC, some of the immediate benefits of exercise (moderate to vigorous physical activity) are that it provides better sleep, less anxiety, and reduced blood pressure. It's very likely that it also improves immune function. The long term results of regular fitness benefit the body in many ways by helping to prevent many chronic diseases.
It increases brain health by reducing the risks of developing dementia and depression.
It improves heart health, lowering the risk of heart disease stroke and type two diabetes.
It prevents cancer by lowering the risk of eight different cancers including bladder, breast, esophagus, kidney, lung, and stomach.
It helps to maintain a healthy weight as well as aiding in weight reduction.
It helps improve bone strength by strengthening the bone structure overall.
And it also helps reduce the risk of accidents and falls through training balance and coordination.
These are just some of the long term benefits. Exercise is pretty incredible!
After reading just a few of the amazing benefits of movement, let’s talk about how to exercise safely. First, you have to consider where you are at the moment. What are your physical abilities and challenges right now? After all, you can't just start running two hours a day if you haven’t walked beyond your driveway in ten years. You have to start at your current level and progress from there. If you want to run a marathon, you have to train for it. If you want to play on an amateur sports team, you have to train for it. If you want to perform a dance solo, you have to train for it. I think that you get the picture. You have to train your body for your desired goal. And if you don’t have a specific goal, that’s okay. I, personally, have no interest in any of the above mentioned goals. I work out every day in order to have the strength and endurance to do all of my daily tasks. But what do people with goals and people with non-specific goals (like me) have in common? We all need to have a healthy base of strength, endurance, and cardiovascular health. This is the foundation of physical movement health. Once these foundations are strong, you can get more specific with your training.
Most trainers call these foundational exercises and movements functional training. The goal is to start building the strength that we need for daily activities. Activities such as sitting down in a chair and getting back up again. Moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Picking up groceries out of a cart. All of these movements can be recreated using light weights to build strength and endurance. Most exercise regimens include movements like these. So it’s simply a matter of finding the foundational (beginner) workouts that suit your personality and abilities. Most people find that they can begin exercising by simply donning a pair of sneakers and taking a walk around their neighborhood. Others prefer to work out to music, so they choose dance routines. There are so many different workouts available now that anyone can find something that suits their interests and needs.
But always watch for warning signs. Every type of movement puts stress on the muscles by design (this is good!). However, once the muscle fatigues, the body will maintain the movement by using the joints for stability. This will cause overuse injuries over time such as Tennis Elbow, shin splints, and more. So anytime that you feel a pain in your joint, it is a warning sign your muscles have fatigued beyond what they can handle at that moment. And we don't want that! I can tell you from personal experience - tennis elbow is not fun!
After having given myself multiple overuse injuries (I’m hardcore at everything I do…), I had to learn a new way to exercise that suited my body. That’s when I began studying the core-focused style that I now teach. Now, I always remind all my client friends that if you feel pain in your joint, you are not moving safely. We want to make sure that at all times the muscle is carrying the load for our body, not the joint. As soon as you feel something odd in a joint, back off. Either to a point where you can get the pain out of your joint and you can still move or simply by ending your workout and letting the muscles recuperate. You can use this warning technique regardless of what type of workout you do.
My own personal favorite type of exercise is yoga-inspired movement because it builds strength from the core out. I love my core movements because they build strength in the deep core line. Initially, we focus on building the deep abdominal muscles. And then as we strengthen our foundation, we start building strength in the legs and the arms. If we try to build strength in the arms and the legs first, we will end up having imbalances in the muscular structure of the spine and of the front abdominals. This is one of the reasons that hernias and other abdominal ruptures are common. So we always want to try to build from the core out. If you have any questions on any of these movements, please feel free to contact me. I'm happy to help you. Or check out one of my workouts on the foundational basics. I have filled them with explanations on how to keep your joints safe and happy with you while you exercise to build your strength in your core.
Don’t get me wrong - I love getting all of the health benefits from exercise, but I must admit that the biggest reason you find me on my mat everyday is because it makes me feel good. I love how it improves my mood and brings a smile to my face. It’s just like Elle Woods from Legally Blond said:
“Exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. And happy people don’t kill their husbands.”
Ready to work out yet?
Have a quick glance back to the quote at the beginning of the email. Did you notice that ANY amount of moderate physical activity starts to give benefits? So what is stopping you? Get out your mat and work out with me! I guarantee that you will feel better than when you started.
Join me for a workout in the Online Studio at www.santefitness.co!