Hopefully some of you have already fired up the spring activities. Forget the cleaning …. spring is a time to get outside and start moving. Once you’re in shape, cleaning the house will become a lot easier and more fun.
The challenge with exercise is that … well you know … it’s hard. But that’s the point. By working muscles you expend energy. Energy is mostly stored in the body as fat but may also be consumed in the diet as food. It’s like the old saying goes … “what you put in is what you get out.” If your consuming a lot of sugar in the form of refined sugars or grains often you put your hormones and metabolism on a bit of a roller coaster. You see, without exercise sugar is converted to fats and this process can be hard to undo and takes work!
We live in a society where we want everything yesterday. There is no way this can work when it comes to exercise. There are really no supplements that can help you get over the initial struggles of muscle weakness and fatigue. It just takes time. You use it or you lose it!
I’m a huge fan of outdoor activity. And why not …. we live in one of the best activity centres in the world. We’ve got water sports, mountain sports, ocean sports and land sports all at our finger tips. Another thing about outdoor activities is that they are just more fun! And apparently fun is the key to sticking with exercise! Studies have clearly shown that when people do something they enjoy they stick with it. That means you then get the benefits from exercise over time.
In a minute I’ll list just a few proven key benefits of exercise because in order to make a formal list I would need to write an entire series of books. First off though …. what makes up exercise. My definition of exercise is anything that you do that makes you sweat for about 30 minutes! You’ve got to get your heart rate up and your body moving for it to be classified as exercise. How often do you have to do this … moving exercise thing? Ideally, in order to receive the maximum benefits of exercise you need to sweat for 30 minutes 3 or 4 times per week. So less than 2 hours per week and your good.
One more thing …. what if you cannot exercise to the point of sweating because you are in pain. Well please come and speak with me if you feel that your pain prevents you from exercising. We will help you have less pain so that you can exercise and have even less pain. Exercise has been shown in cases of chronic pain suffers to reduce subjective pain response!
One of the key benefits of exercise is energy. No doubt … your body starts to use energy so in turn you start to make more energy … and so the process gets more efficient. As your body gets more exercise your brain will start to function better! People that exercise have clearly been found to have a better mood with less depression and anxiety. The final thing I personally like about exercise is that it helps to get things moving! All substances (lymph, blood, feces, urine, saliva) in the body need to move. If they don’t …. its no wonder we get sick; heart disease, kidney disease, bowel diseases start when things stop moving.
In my mind, spring cleaning should really revolve around the body and mind more than the house so get out there and start moving!