Get Better Health in 10 Minutes a Day
Studies show that you do not need hours per week at a gym to benefit from exercise. Beginning consistent exercise with adequate rest between sessions can improve health most for those who were sedentary. Later, if you are healthy enough, make 10 seconds or more bursts of sprinting/dashing (or such), as an example of extreme exercising for less than one (1) minute, but those tend to be high impact. Caution: Any suggested exercise should be confirmed and agreed with your medical doctor.
Contents
Steps
- Exercise on purpose. Do at least a little moderate exercise everyday. This study suggests 70 minutes a week (10 minutes a day) of added exercise can lessen your dangers of blood, heart and arterial diseases and improve your quality of life.
- Read how this works as explained by Dr. Tim Church, Pennington Research Center, Baton Rouge, La.; he said
- “Our bodies respond very positively to even small amounts of physical activity,”
- “For sedentary individuals, the immediate health benefits are huge. In fact, those who have been doing nothing stand to benefit the most from increasing physical activity in terms of dying prematurely.”
- Sedentary individuals (who seldom get exercise) may benefit by increasing daily exercise by several minutes.
- Realize the regular recommendation is to gradually work up to 150 minutes a week (21+ minutes per day) of exercise — and this did not change, yet recent studies indicate that results are apparent in half that time.
- Dr. Church also says of the study: “We saw a change in waist size, which is associated with the most dangerous form of abdominal fat, in just 70 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike.”
- Avoid perfectionism, ie: all-or-nothing thinking:
- like "I can’t run fast for 4 minutes, or jog for an hour, so why even try?" and
- like you may underestimate the positive effects of less-intense exercise.
- like equating weight loss with fitness and despair if the scale doesn’t change much.
- Reshape your thinking and shape-up your health: as Dr. Church suggests that your walking a few minutes a day: “... will reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, diabetes, and many other conditions.”
10-minute jump-start!
- Start with moderate exercise sessions of about 10 minute.
- Don't give up! Some exercise is much better than none:
- Short sessions of exercise can improve increased burning (metabolizing) of blood sugar for up to 72 hours.
- Get this exercise for even more help for
- diabetics, and other energy creation and usage problems,
- circulatory, heart (cardiopulmonary) conditions and
- for the elderly -- who usually slow down (ie: too much).
- Be persistent with small lifestyle changes which are also easier to stick with, but still provide lasting benefits, by determination for continuing such sessions.
- Make this into a good habit by doing it consistently for two weeks, and then increase your activity gradually.
- Buy and use an inexpensive pedometer. Many Americans take only 5000 steps a day.
- Increase walking to 7000 or 8000 steps per day to reduce the risk of disease.
- Figure out how many steps you make a day and then aim to gradually add at least 1000 steps in a week (150 per day), add more until you reach your daily goal.
- Make some changes like:
- Park farther away and walk from your parking place to shop at the store,
- Go to a zoo, recreation area or a park on weekends with your kids or grand-kids --
- instead of sitting in a movie
- Take a walk after breakfast or dinner. Some people walk in an air conditioned mall.
- Find other great benefits that may be as profound as the physical ones. "It always amazes people to see how little activity it takes to feel better," Dr. Church says. And, be happier in as little as 10 minutes (today...).
Interval Training to lose weight and get stamina
- Lose weight possible much more quickly (if you are healthy enough) and get Get Into Running, Sprinting and Cross Country by interval training (this is not for building massive muscles)
- Check with your doctor, and do this strenuous effort only, if you have gotten into pretty good shape and have a healthy enough heart by simple, moderate exercise such as by following a fast walking program, etc.. The interval technique is used by swimmers, track and cross country to get in greatest shape possible.
- If you qualify, you will get into much better shape by doing interval training.
- Later on after getting into shape with this interval program you can do 6 pack (abdominal muscle) training, too.
- Always, warm up first: for 5-10 minutes with a very fast walk or slow jog and a pre-stretch routine -- Enjoy Yourself While Stretching.
- This exercise is sprinting: all-out from 10 to 60 seconds to reach around 90% (85-95%) of your maximum safe heart rate, weight and overall conditioning.
- Exercise for a very short time intervals of high speed effort and then an equally short rest interval: "on" and "off".
- Rest to lower your heart's pulse rate to nearly normal. Repeat the effort and rest.
- Rest by walking slowly, some stretching and other low impact movements to stay warm.
- Rest for 1 to 2 minutes to recover to a moderate heart rate. Then go again.
- Exertion is to stay at that 90% level for only 10 to 20 seconds.
- Calculate Your Target Heart Rate for your fitness level. If your fitness is not good keep the highest effort down to just 10 seconds until you get a better tone, including better breath and lower your high blood by this cardiovascular conditioning.
- Push only hard enough -- but only for your 90% heart rate for that 10 to 20 seconds. Do not maintain your high-intensity interval longer (even for the most highly trained athletes, only slightly longer for the desired result).
- Repeat these intervals for 10 to 20 minutes at first (and increase it to only 20 minutes when you can do without fatigue): so that is 10 to 20 minutes depending on your heart rate and body fitness level.
- Build six pack abs: by changing to abdominal training when you have slimmed down and are in good cardiovascular shape by doing your intervals. Now it will be "abdominal intervals".
- The interval training is high impact on feet and legs (muscles, bones and joints) and stress the blood vessels, heart and lungs, etc. -- so only do them, if it works for your condition and health.
Tips
- It's "not-all-or-nothing", and it's not lifting heavy weights, running heats/dashes or jogging that is necessary to begin helping your health. Walk more.
- Look in the mirror and smile at yourself. It can create confidence and happiness.
- Suggested exercises should be confirmed and agreed with your medical doctor.
- If you fall short, or have to take a break for some reason -- then anxiety, anger, and depression often may lead to falling out of the good habit. Get back into it gradually. Unfortunately, negative emotions are not just unpleasant: They're bad for your heart and nerves. They fire up inflammation which damages arteries. Feeling good about your life and accomplishments, however, reduces your risk of heart disease.
- Share your skills, apply them, help a volunteer group with its office duties, record- and book-keeping, making calls, etc. You can gain a larger purpose and a meaningful life activity for two happiness and self-actualizing, self-esteem boosters.
Warnings
- Merely walking a few minutes a day may not cause your weight to drop substantially without changing eating habits, but you may reduce risks of cardiovascular disease by walking, and see how it helps with anxiety, depression, diabetes, and many other conditions.Weight loss deals mainly with diet changing, ie, eating more fruits and less junk food. Remember: "What goes in, goes out.". You should control your food intake in order to lose weight.
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Sources and Citations
- Emily Listfield, Parade Magazine, 08-09-2009
