Lately there has been a lot of research into the ill effects being sedentary has on our bodies. During the day most of us are tied to a desk and remain there for long stretches of time. We commute to and from work in our cars, and return home only to sit in front of the TV.
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The average heart beats approximately 100,000 times per day. That’s nearly 3.5 billion times in the course of a lifetime. The heart is only about the size of a fist and weighs between 7 and 15 ounces, yet it pumps up to 2,000 gallons of blood throughout your body per day. This is how our organs and other tissues receive oxygen and nutrients needed to stay healthy. Most of us don’t ever give this a second thought, but that’s a lot of work for one muscle and a huge responsibility with very little rest! So why not take some time to take care of the most important muscle in your body
The gyms are now filled with men and women who have vowed that this year they are going to get fit, lose weight, tone up, slim down and reduce their body fat. Whatever your goal is, in order to succeed, you need to have a plan. And by a plan I don’t mean workout 3 times a week and try to eat better.
A lot of people believe you need to change what you do every work out so you surprise your muscles; this is what I call chaos training. Whether you go to the gym or workout at home, your workouts need structure and a specific goal. Let’s talk progressive overload and periodization. Do you know someone who constantly works out and is constantly on a diet, yet his or her body never changes? Maybe this person is you. Most of my clients, who are woman over 50, come to me with the same complaint; I joined a gym, and I go about 3 or 4 times a week, I eat healthy but nothing is happening. What am I doing wrong?
Why go through hours of exercise to lose weight? Cut back on your portion sizes and you’ll be sure to drop a few pounds.
If you want to be able to eat pizza, ice cream, heaping bowls of pasta and enjoy bread and butter before your meal just exercise harder or longer. Calories in versus calories out: simple right, and doesn’t It makes sense? Well, I hate to break it to you but it’s not quite that simple. In order to get results, and I mean lasting results, you’ll need to do both. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard both men and women tell me that they can’t lose weight because they have a slow metabolism, or because they are over 40, or 50 and their metabolism has slowed down and they accept the fact that they won’t be able to lose weight. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Do things slow down as we get older? Sure they do. Does that mean you have to settle for being overweight or unfit? Absolutely not.
I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard in order to lose weight you need to eat healthily and exercise daily. It’s no secret. So why is it, that so many people struggle trying to get to a healthy weight and stay there? One obstacle is the actual working out and preparing healthy foods but there’s something else holding you back. Your daily activities and habits could be sabotaging your efforts.
Bodyweight training involves basic and traditional exercises for strength training, such as burpees, squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, and more. Incorporating bodyweight training in your fitness program can greatly improve your strength, stamina, and overall performance. However, in order to achieve optimum results, you should know how to perform bodyweight training correctly.
We’re all short on time. As much as we’d like to have an hour a day to workout, time to prepare our meals, slip in a little time for meditation and maybe even a little down time, we know that’s unrealistic. It also doesn’t mean that you should just give up on trying to find a solution. But when we get busy one of the first things to go always seem to be your workout.
Most of us agree that working out is essential for good health and good health seems harder and harder to attain with the social and economic stresses and unhealthy food production practices in the world.
People are working longer hours, technology is making physical activity easier to avoid, food producers are taking shortcuts for mass production versus healthy production, and stress takes its toll on our bodies. Considering all these obstacles, it can be difficult to get in the physical activity that we need. Then there are those who are simply too tired or unmotivated to workout, these are the people that find fitness boring, too difficult or they simply just don’t want to do it. |
authorLisa Swanson is an ACE Certified Health Coach, Personal Trainer and Orthopedic Exercise Specialist as well as a certified AASDN and PN level 1 nutritionist. With over 35 years experience helping people turn their lives around, she is on a mission to provide relevant and useful knowledge to help women in midlife reach their goals. featured onCheck out my interview with the Magnificent Midlife podcast on staying fit and healthy long-term.
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