The Wellness of You! # 214 — Exercise — Just Do It!
posted in Nutrition and Weight Loss |One of the aspects of life that many of us find difficult to maintain, is about exercise. We can find so many reasons not to do it. In fact, I’ll bet it’s one of the top-ranked forms of procrastination. As I grow older, I know that to be so true. It’s not about finding the time, it’s about finding the energy that’s such a problem. Even if I do have exercise scheduled into my day, I still look for reasons to avoid it.
One of the reasons why we really should learn to make exercise an important part of our daily routine is the desire to remain independent as we age. We need to maintain strength if we want to continue to carry in the groceries — open jars — do the gardening — take out the garbage — shovel the mulch or the snow. While we’re young, doing those things is a piece of cake. However, if we want to keep doing them in our later years, we better be thinking about exercise — and not only thinking about it but doing it now.
Having more muscle increases your metabolism, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight. Since muscle is an active tissue it uses up more calories compared to fat. After age 20, most of us lose about a half pound of muscle a year. By the time we’re 65, we’ll have lost 25 percent of our peak strength.
But, just because we’re all getting older doesn’t mean we have to get soft and weak. The experts all agree that most of the muscle loss that’s occurring as we age is caused by not using them enough. It’s not the aging — it’s the lack of use, folks!
You can start building and regaining strength at any age. So if it has been a while since you’ve worked on your strength, don’t worry. Research shows that even people who begin strength training in their 90s can gain muscle and strength in as few as eight weeks. Strengthening exercises involve working against a force which can come from your body, weight machines, free weights or barbells, a body bar, resistance bands, stability ball, or water.
You’ll need to work the different muscle groups two or three times a week. This includes your arms, legs, chest, shoulders, stomach, and back. The American Council on Exercise recommends starting with one set of 8-12 repetitions for each muscle exercise.
There are many other things you can do besides weight lifting to build strength. One example is old-fashioned calisthenics, such as push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups. Aerobic activities that build endurance β such as walking, cycling, running, swimming, and certain martial arts and dance classes β are good leg-strengthening exercises.
Choose activities you enjoy so you’ll stick with it. Mixing up your workouts every now and then will keep you and your muscles from getting bored. If your fitness routine is focused on lower body strength, be sure to balance out your upper body with a workout too. For example, if you walk four or five times a week, add an upper body workout on the two or three days you don’t walk. Try hand weights, a rowing machine, or push-ups.
It’s important to “lengthen” or stretch muscles after you do a strengthening exercise. Stretching helps increase blood flow to your muscles, minimizes aches and pains and can help reduce feelings of tension or stress. Daily stretching, even for 10 minutes, will keep you limber and reduce your risk of pulling a muscle or getting some other injury. A fun way to get some good stretching is to take a yoga class.
Even though you’re likely to see quick results, it’s normal for these changes to slow down after several weeks of working out. Don’t let this discourage you; stick with your program even though improvements are not as obvious. After several months of resistance training, most men and women will increase their muscular strength by 20 to 40 percent, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Many people hurt themselves strength training by moving too fast. Choose lighter weights to start β three- or five-pound β and build up gradually. Muscles need time to repair. Don’t train the same muscle group two days in a row.
A rule of thumb: If you can’t repeat eight weight exercises in a row, the weight is too heavy. Try a lighter weight. If you can lift a weight more than 15 times in a row, the weight is too light - get one slightly heavier. Don’t increase the weight you lift by more than 10 percent at any time. Remember to warm up with slow movement, such as marching in place, and cool down (stretch) your muscles each time you work out.
As always, before you start any exercise program you’ll want to be sure to check in with your doctor to make sure that you don’t embark on some form of exercise that may be harmful to you. It’s very rare that doctors will tell you not to exercise, but there may be some workout routines that you may need to hold off for a while until you build your core strength.
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Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)
Ron
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