Healthy Blogs
Baby Steps to Your Daily Workout
Getting your daily exercise might seem like a daunting task to fit into your schedule. But there are other ways to get started. Baby steps. You have the option to do all of your exercise for the day at once, or spread it out throughout your day by accumulating your exercise a little at a time. Evidence suggests that the total amount of physical activity accumulated in a day is more important than the specific manner in which the activity is performed. When this is understood, the principle of accumulation becomes very appealing.
Short sessions of physical activity might fit better into a busy schedule than a single long session. Accumulating 30 minutes of activity per day in short sessions brings substantial benefits. Activities may include walking upstairs instead of taking an elevator, talking a walk on your break with a co-worker using the buddy system, walking instead of driving short distances, or pedaling a stationary cycle while watching TV. Gardening, housework, raking leaves, or even playing actively with children can also contribute to a 30-minute-per day total if performed at an intensity equivalent to brisk walking.
One option is breaking daily exercise into two 15-minute sessions – walk 1 mile briskly in the morning, then mow the lawn for 15 minutes in the evening. One could alternately choose three 10-minute sessions – walk 10 minutes to work, walk another 10 minutes during your lunch break, and then ride your stationary bike for another 10 minutes in the evening.
Researchers evaluated two groups on the increase in their fitness level using two different regimens. One was 30 minutes of continuous activity, the other was three 10-minute exercise sessions. They found that the multiple shorter sessions of exercise produced similar and significant improvement in fitness levels when compared with the continuous exercise. In another similar study, researchers studied the effects of running on fitness and blood lipids. They found similar results in fitness level improvement but found that the high-density lipoprotein, the healthy cholesterol, increased more in the group who spread their exercise over the three times per day. So take baby steps. One step at a time. Think about how you can accumulate more activity during your day. Little-by-little adds up to a lot!
Graduate to a Healthy 100
A healthy vision is connected to our perception. Our outlook refers to how we approach the world through our minds. Some people tend to be optimistic, a definite asset; others tend to be pessimistic, which can lead to difficulties. So, let’s study how to learn more positive attitudes toward life and graduate to healthy longevity.
Eugene Lang, a successful self-made millionaire, had graduated from P.S. 121 Elementary School in Harlem and was invited back as the commencement speaker for the 1981 graduating sixth grade class. As he spoke, he looked at the 52 students gathered there and sensed he wasn’t getting his message – the fact that they had a future – through to them.
He laid aside his notes and gave an unplanned talk that changed their lives forever. He reminded them of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. He told them that everyone must have a dream if his or her life is to go anywhere. He emphasized the value of education and of going to college but then realized that most of them couldn’t afford it. “Don’t think for a minute,” he said, “that you can’t go to college, because you can.” He then promised to pay the college tuition for every student who would go on and graduate from high school. For the first time, many of the students sensed hope, and started developing a vision for their life. One student said, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.”
Although Mr. Lang sat down that day to a cheering audience, he knew that money alone wasn’t the answer. He created a support structure of teachers, parents and community that together worked with the students in order to help them manifest a vision for their lives. Past history had predicted that of the 52 sixth graders in that class, only 25% would graduate from high school. And of that 25%, almost none would go to college. But, thanks to Mr. Lang and the support of others, 48 of the 52 sixth graders graduated from high school, and 40 attended college. In The Future Focused Role Image, Benjamin Singer reports that, in his research, IQ and family background were not key indicators of successful students. The characteristics that all successful students shared was a profound and positive vision of their future.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Factor | Anti-Aging
Some have called strength-training the best anti-ager that we have! Why such a strong statement? Miriam E. Nelson’s research created news worldwide when the results were published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association. After a year of strength training twice a week, women’s bodies were 15 to 20 years more youthful.
Without the use of drugs, they regained bone density, which helps prevent osteoporosis. They became stronger – in most cases even stronger than when they were young. Their flexibility and balance improved. Without changing what they ate, they were leaner and trimmer. What’s more, the women in this study were so energized that they become 27% more active.
The anti-aging benefits are found in men also. A study revealed that persons unable to walk at a normal pace, experienced physical limitation in other areas as well, such as doing heavy housework (washing the car, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, or cleaning up the garage), lifting something ten pounds, walking half mile, walking up a flight of stairs, dressing, eating, and bathing. The study concluded that in order to remain independent as you get older, it is vital to maintain good muscle strength.
The book Biomarkers: The 10 Determinants of Aging You Can Control, vividly illustrates how strength training is a fountain of youth. The ten determinants that you can control are your muscle mass, strength, basal metabolic rate, body fat percentage, aerobic capacity, blood-sugar tolerance, cholesterol/HDL ratio, blood pressure, bone density, and your body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature. Every one of these determinants is directly and significantly affected by strength training. The most obvious determinants affected are muscle mass and strength, the immediate results of this important component of physical activity. We create good muscle mass by resistance exercise that stimulates the muscle to grow.
The loss of muscle mass can create a domino affect. Imagine if you lined up ten dominos in a row, and each represented one determinant of aging that you could control. The first domino would be muscle mass, and once you knocked it over (had a loss of muscle mass) each of the other dominos would be knocked over (that is, they would be affected negatively). A positive way to look at this is that by maintaining or increasing your muscle mass you help keep all of the other nine determinants of aging at good levels. These are some of the benefits that a well-planned strength program will provide:
-Increased muscular strength, endurance and tone.
-Increased ligament and tendon strength, which reduces arthritic pain.
-Increased bone density, the opposite of osteoporosis.
-Better posture.
-Easier acquisition of sport skills.
-Greater joint stability.
-Higher resting metabolic rate – burning more calories promotes weight loss and maintenance.
-Each pound of muscle tissue gained increases the resting metabolism by 3 calories a day.
-Less risk of injury and falls.
-Aid in childbearing.
-Reduced chronic lower back pain.
-Improved cholesterol levels.
The great news is, you don’t have to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or work as hard as he did to get these benefits, and you will still be on your way to Live to a Healthy 100!
Weekly Rest
Our world operates on a seven-day rhythm. We find this cycle in plants, animals and humans. Energizing our lives with daily, weekly and annual vacations is essential to our health and happiness. We have an innate need for a change of pace and a time to “come apart.”
During World War II, Great Britain instituted a 74-hour work week, but soon found that people could not maintain the pace. After experimenting, they found that a 48-hour work week, with regular breaks, plus one day of rest each week, resulted in maximum efficiency. During the French revolution, France experimented with a ten-day week; chaos resulted.
Medical research has demonstrated seven-day rhythms in connection with a variety of physiological functions. These include: heart rate, natural hormones in human breast milk and urine, swelling after surgery, rejection of transplanted organs, human and animal cancers and their response to treatment, inflammatory responses and the drugs we use to treat them. For instance, a patient will tend to have an increase in swelling on the seventh and the fourteenth day after surgery. Similarly, a patient who has had a kidney transplant is more likely to reject the organ seven days and fourteen days after surgery. German scientists call the thing that sets a biorhythm – “zeitgeber” or “time-giver.” The zeitgeber that initiates and maintains the seven-day rhythm is not yet understood, but some chronobiologists think that a regular day of rest might pace it.
It is possible that we have a physiologic need to take a specific day off each week. Taking off one whole day in seven brings renewal to the physical, mental and spiritual life. Unlike days, months and years, this biorhythm has no astronomical marker. There is no plausible explanation for its presence, except that it was built into our physiology. The day can be used for many restorative things: to connect with others; it can be great for re-creation, reflection, and meditation; and it can be a special time to focus on nurturing one’s spiritual values.
Use It Or Lose It | Excercise the Mind
When you first think of activity, you probably think of the physical kind. However, it is just as important to exercise your brain as it is to do physical activity. Our brains our constantly changing and they respond to the demands that we put on it. One study that was done with London taxi drivers showed that persons with intensive spatial training (the taxi drivers) had more hippocampal gray matter. This area of the brain involves memory, which you definitely need if you are a taxi driver! This same effect has been seen in other species too (especially birds!).
When exercising your brain, make sure you pick activities that have a meaningful use or application. Some activities that help boost your brain power include reading a book that interests you or challenges your thinking, memorizing poems, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language, increasing your vocabulary, and practicing a task with your non-dominant hand.
To keep your brain running at optimal speed, you must feed it correctly. Eating breakfast is one of the most important things you can do. However, it is important to look at what you are eating for breakfast. Food with a low glycemic index (how quickly carbohydrates are absorbed into our body and converted into blood sugar) are best. An easy way to look at this is to look for food that comes to you without processing. Whole foods tend to be higher in fiber and lower in sugar. Instead of peaking with a sugar rush, you will have a constant blood sugar level and mood all day.
In order for your brain to function, it needs a lot of oxygen. Doing physical activity helps the brain function by increasing the blood flow to the brain. Countless studies have shown the close relationship between physical fitness and mental health. When you exercise your body, you are not just helping your heart and lungs; you are helping your brain also!
