Everyone knows that, theoretically, exercise is good for you and that you’re supposed to do it regularly. But just knowing that isn’t always enough to motivate you to do it! We could make the whole focus of this all about the direct physical and emotional effects of regular exercise but if we dig a little deeper into what that means for your life, hopefully, you will feel more motivated to get started. Or, sometimes, if you go the other way and look at what is likely if you don’t exercise, knowing that you’re working on the prevention might give you the necessary trigger.
Energy
All the energy you need comes from cardiovascular system which drives the blood to the various components of the body. Cardiovascular Exercise helps maintain this in top condition
Strength
Exercise that includes strength training benefits the body in so many ways. It improves your flexibility, joints and posture.
Mental Wellbeing
Exercise helps the brain and boosts endorphins and counteracts the hormones caused by stress. Sleep better and have better moods.
The Benefits of Exercise - Are You Fit for Life?
What do you want to do with your time in the next 20 years? Are you busy with work? Are your kids your main focus and energy? Do you have holidays and activities at the top of your agenda? Or, are you at the time of life when grandkids are your joie de vivre?
Whatever floats your boat, you need a healthy body and plenty of strength and energy to get it done effectively. Have you heard that expression: “the mind is willing, but the flesh is weak”? Have you ever felt like that? Your brain is telling you that you want to do something but your get-up-and-go has got up and gone?!
This is where exercise will keep your get-up-and-go level topped up!
It comes in 3 flavours: energy, strength and mental wellbeing.
Exercise = Energy
Your heart is your body pump and pumps blood round your body continuously with oxygen supplied by the lungs – this is called the cardiovascular system. We have, on average, 5 litres of blood - every minute, 5 litres is pumped by the heart all the way around the body. All the cells in your body get everything via the blood – oxygen, nutrients, hormones, etc. If your heart is not at its top efficiency, all the cells get less, but if your heart is pumping very efficiently then all your cells benefit! Skin, hair, nails, the works! This is how you stay generally healthy and avoid colds and more serious health conditions.
So, at the very top level, keeping that heart muscle strong is so important.
Cardiovascular Exercise
What is cardiovascular fitness, and how do we get it? Cardiovascular fitness is where the heart muscle is strong, the lungs are efficient at taking in and transferring oxygen, and the veins and arteries are an efficient piping system to carry it round the body and back to the heart. A bit like your central heating plumbing system!
To keep the heart strong you need to make it work harder regularly to build up the muscle tissue and this is called cardiovascular training – often shortened to “cardio”.
To perform cardio training you need to raise the heart rate gradually (sudden raise is not good for the heart – that’s called stress!), raise it to a level that works the heart at around 70-80%, for at least 20 minutes, then, gradually, lower it back to normal.
If you will do that regularly (3 times a week), your cardiovascular system will not give you any trouble. If you don’t, you are likely to get high blood pressure, poor circulation, weight gain, high cholesterol, low energy, fatigue, leading to a whole host of other health conditions, like diabetes.
What do you actually need to do to perform cardio training? Well, anything that raises the heart rate! And, I don’t mean watch a raunchy film! You need to get a bit out of breath in the process! We’re talking about pumping the limbs or lifting heavy things. Sex will do it if you can sustain it for at least 20 mins!
Traditionally, cardio training is performed by cycling (or exercise bike), running (or treadmill), swimming, aerobics, dancing, anything that gets all the limbs pumping continuously. This is called aerobic cardio training.
Non-aerobic cardio training raises the heart rate to the same levels but without using so much oxygen. This is usually performed by lifting weights repeatedly and is more static but also gets the job done.
So give your heart the work it needs and it will: keep your energy boosted; give you good circulation; good lungs; good blood pressure; good immune system; good cholesterol and sugar levels. You will have the energy to do whatever you want without feeling tired or getting too out of breath and you’ll have the stamina to do it for longer.
Exercise = Strength
Now, if you have all the energy you need and you are healthy, what good is that to you if your knees are stiff or hurt, your back is weak, you have poor posture or balance and you don’t have the strength to lift heavy things or dig the garden? The other aspect of a healthy body, therefore, is strong bones, joints and muscles. These 3 work together and you need all 3 to be strong to avoid skeletal issues: the bones provide the length and form; the joints are designed to do the movement; and the muscles are designed to take the strain.
If the muscles are weak, the joints start to take the strain and get worn down causing wear and tear, cartilage and tendon damage. The muscles also get damaged when you put pressure on them. If the bones are not strong you’re more likely to get fractures when you fall or have an accident and they won’t be able to take pressure and this obviously affects the joints as well.
Similar to the heart being improved by working it, the muscles, bones and joints also get stronger by working them. This is called strength training or resistance training. Strength training is also what defines and streamlines the muscles and gives that toned look that we all want to achieve.
Strength Training Exercise
Strength training is where you put an appropriate amount of resistance on the muscle and joint (this sends signals to the bones to build bone density at the same time) for an appropriate amount of time, then let them rest for the appropriate recovery time and do it all again. Resistance training shortens the muscles, so you then need to stretch the muscles back out to normal length, or longer, at the end. This stretching process also improves joint range and overall flexibility and increases the muscle build by another 19%.
Ideally, strength training should be performed at least twice a week.
What is the appropriate amount of time?
The muscles, on average, exhaust after 30 seconds regardless of age, gender and strength. Once the muscle is exhausted it needs 90 seconds recovery before it is ready to work again. So working round the muscles in cycles for 30 secs at a time is the most efficient and effective way to build muscle tissue.
What is the appropriate amount of resistance?
The resistance has to be enough to break some muscle fibres, because it is the repair of these muscle fibres that make the muscle stronger. But not so much that it pulls the whole muscle or strains the joint. If you’re using weights, either free weights or weight-stack machines, you have to know what weight to select to get the appropriate amount of resistance. If you use hydraulics you allow your muscles and joints to find the right level and then build on it gradually, so it’s a much safer way of doing strength training and avoids injuries.
Exercise is Positive Mental Wellbeing
What good is a strong and healthy body if you are plagued by distractions, stress, anxiety, low self-esteem or lack of drive or lack of confidence. You need your mental and emotional health to be strong and healthy too! Exercise, especially cardiovascular exercise, is the way to improve your mind by keeping the brain cells happy and healthy (blood and oxygen flow); have the energy to stay focused; and avoid distractions like anxiety, depression and mood swings.
Brain Training
Regular exercise sparks growth of new blood vessels to nourish the brain and produces new brain cells through a process called neurogenesis, which improves overall brain performance. Regular exercise prevents cognitive decline, which is especially important as you age – you want to keep up with the kids and grandkids both physically and mentally!
So keep exercising to make you smarter!
Drive Training
Regular exercise boosts your will power, drive, ambition, leadership and confidence. It will help you stay focused and helps you achieve your goals. You will keep that sense of purpose and feel good about knowing you can achieve what you plan. So stay at the top of your game and keep that drive boosted by exercising regularly!
Mood Training
Regular exercise boosts endorphins and counteracts the hormones caused by stress. The elevated ‘happy hormones’ will lift your mood and counteract depression and anxiety. Those happy hormones will also boost your feeling of security and contentment, which will enable better sleep. You will really feel what people call the “feel good factor”! Exercise keeps your spirits up so you feel like you can do anything – and you most probably will!
Have you ever sat there and thought, “I should do …, but I don’t feel like it”? Well, keep deliberate regular exercise going and you’ll always feel you can do anything.
In it for Life
So, maybe you’ve recently worked hard on getting a healthy body and plenty of strength and energy and your mental wellbeing is topped up nicely, thank you very much! Does that mean you can stop there?
These things don’t stay once you’ve built them. To maintain them, you have to continue exercising regularly. That’s the way your body is designed – work with it!
