Archive for Fitness
Exercise guidelines and weight loss
Posted by: | CommentsGuidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend that adults should: (a) engage in moderately intense exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week or vigorous exercise at least 20 minutes three days each week, and (b) weightlifting exercise to work on muscular strength and endurance, with eight to 10 different exercises on two nonconsecutive days a week. The new guidelines urged people 65 and older to lift weights and work on flexibility exercises and balance training.
One of my new clients has been running 5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour for about a year, before he approached me for help. He wanted to build more muscle, and control his blood sugar. In my initial meeting with him it appeared that his diet was a little bit off. We tweaked this a little bit. I also gave him a fifteen minute dumbell workout (20 lbs each) that he did 5 days a week.
Six weeks later, he called me and reported that he lost 16 pounds (he’s now 135 pounds on a 5′6” frame), and most importantly also lost two inches off his waist. He’s extremely excited because his six-pack abs is in sight. Most importantly, his blood sugar is now normal – with no medication — simply from the slight diet modification and weight training routine I gave him.
Moral of the story: A high nutrient diet, plus an intelligently designed weight training program can really turbo charge your health and weight loss goals.
Is moderate exercise helpful?
Posted by: | CommentsCurrent recommendations for 30 minutes of moderately strenuous exercise at least five days of the week is a reasonable goal. However, few people meet this requirement. Now a small study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health indicates that even relatively low levels of weekly exercise can positively impact high pressure and improve overall fitness.
The research indicates that even half hour of walking done three time as a week has some effect of pressure and waist/hip measurement to affect the risk factors related to cardiovascular mortality.
Personally, I think it all comes down to creating a positive habit of engaging in even mild to moderate exercise on a daily basis. I think it’s easier to form daily rituals compared to a “3 to 4 times a week” exercise routine. It’s better to pick a modest goal, of say 15 to 20 minutes brisk walking on a daily basis, then stick to it for a few months. Only when this ”minimum habit” is solidly in place can one then think of increasing intensity and/or duration.
