Mild But Effective Exercise
Have you ever heard the saying, “ if you rest…you rust”?
It’s true!
Unless you’re active in some “structured” way everyday, your body will begin to seize up.
Every function in the human body relies upon your moving — everything, everyday. Without movement there’s no life. You must get your metabolism moving so the rest of your body can function efficiently and effectively.
One type of exercise you can do to stimulate your metabolism is aerobic exercise. These are exercises that promote cardiovascular health. Aerobic exercise consists of any exercise performed non-stop for a length of time long enough to force your muscles to use more oxygen to produce energy. This type of exercise makes your body burn more body fat and keeps your metabolism higher than normal not only during exercise but also for up to 2 hours after.
There are many types of aerobic exercise. You can walk outside, walk on a treadmill, jog, ride a bike, go to a gym, walk up and down a flight of stairs or just practice getting up and down from a chair if you’re really out of shape. Basically, doing any motion that gets your heart rate into the right zone for an extended period of time is considered aerobic.
To make exercising fun, try choosing activities that are convenient and enjoyable. Keep a list of fun aerobic things you can do — keep adding to that list. Set a goal of doing at least 1 different activity each week to help ‘spice up’ your training. Boredom is the number one reason people stop their exercise program.
Another reason many people quit is because they try to do more than they’re physically capable of doing, eventually giving up. Talk with your physician first to see what exercise styles are right for you, then follow your physician’s recommendations and make sure you pick exercises or activities that are within your physical limits.
For beginners or those with health issues or who are more than 50 pounds over weight, you might start with mild stationary bike riding, or light treadmill walking or simply sitting in a sturdy chair, then gently standing up, then sitting back down. If you do this over and over again, you’ll find your heart rate goes up quite fast.
When you get tired, take a break by sitting in the chair.
For intermediate people, or those who have exercised regularly in the past but recently let themselves get a bit out of shape, try mild to mildly intense stationary biking or treadmill work. You can even take an aerobic class or follow a video program. Go out dancing — this is always a fun way to get your metabolism moving.
People in the advanced category or those who have been exercising regularly without fail for at least 8 months, can try interval training. For example, for interval training using a stationary bike, start by riding slowly with a low intensity for 1 minute, then immediately increase both your speed and intensity for the next minute. Then, ride slowly at the low intensity for another minute and repeat this process 10–15 times.
Interval training burns more calories in less time than nearly any other aerobic exercise.
Advanced folks can also try 100 rep squats. Make no mistake, this is an advanced exercise and should not be performed unless you fit into this category.
If you are up to it, begin by holding a light dumbbell in each hand, hanging them down at your sides. Gently and slowly squat down with your back straight and head upright until your thighs are parallel to the floor (like sitting in an imaginary chair), then push back up to the standing position without locking your legs.
Repeat this for 100 reps. This is not a fun exercise, but rather one that will completely sculpt and define your lower body — FAST, while burning a ton of calories. If you’ve never tried this exercise, don’t do it without a training partner.
Remember, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at or what exercise or activity you choose, just keep variety in your exercise choices, be persistent and have fun!
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