EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION FOR HEALTH, WEIGHT LOSS AND MORE
Does your prescription for better health include exercise?
Since it has proven
benefits for everything from lowering blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol as well as improving mental health and kidney function and even decreasing the risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s, it is beneficial to know what type and how much exercise is enough to address your specific issues.
Guidelines. The American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association Guidelines indicate that five days a week of moderate intensity cardiovascular activities and two additional days of strength training is needed to attain the benefits. The duration of aerobic activity varies according to your goal as follows:
General Health Benefits – 30 minutes Avoid Weight Gain – 30 -50 minutes Weight Loss – 45-84 minutes Prevent Weight Regain after loss – 40-60 minutes
Work on strength, endurance, flexibility and balance for overall health. Interval training is a great way to burn calories and build cardiopulmonary fitness, however be sure you are conditioned and start slow with very short intervals.
Walking. Walking is the easiest way to get aerobic activity. Work your way up to 10,000 steps per day. Ten thousand steps is about five miles. The brisker the walk, the more calories you will burn. In order to calculate your steps, buy a pedometer or FitBit to keep track.
Weight Training. Weight training builds muscle mass which burns more calories, keeps your joints stable and maintains or builds strength necessary to not only do everyday tasks but to build reserve so when you extend yourself and push past your limits, you may avoid injury. To build muscle, lift 65 percent of your maximum, however be sure you are conditioned enough to do this.
Weight Training Guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/ Guidelines.html
Balance and Flexibility. To work on balance and stretching try yoga. Yoga has many mind/body benefits as well and can balance your sympathetic (adrenaline, stress) nervous system and parasympathetic (peace, calm) nervous system. If you do fast flows you can build cardiovascular health and some poses are strengthening as well.
If yoga is not your cup of tea, just stretch. Stretching relaxes tight muscles, brings circulation to the area, washes out toxins and is relaxing. Stretch every part of your body. Try these stretches to stay flexible
http://www.self.com/gallery/essential- stretches-slideshow
High Intensity Interval Training. If time is a factor, try the Seven Minute
Workout. Studies show that high intensity interval training provides many of the benefits of endurance training in much less time. Work up to doing each exercise for 30 seconds followed by a 10 second rest. There is an app for this and you can work out along with the app.
Be FIT BE SAFE. Make exercise fun and enjoyable so you will stick with a program. Remember the acronym from the book, Vibrance for Life: How to be Younger and Healthier, Be FIT BE SAFE - Frequency, Intensity, Time and Balance, Endurance, Stretching And Flexibility Exercise to get a well-rounded fitness routine. It’s best to get assessed to determine how to start, how you compare to others your age and what to focus on. Seek the advice of a health care professional to tailor a program to your individual needs to fulfill your exercise prescription to better health.
Lorraine Maita, MD, is a recognized and award-winning holistic, functional and anti aging physician and author. She transforms people’s lives by getting to the root cause of illness using the best of science and nature. Her approach is personalized, precision medicine where you are treated as the unique individual you are.
www.howtoliveyounger.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75