Exercise is for losing weight, right? Well, no, it's does much more!
You know that feeling, when you're tired and logic seems to tell you, 'rest, sit on the couch'? Well, sometimes this can actually mean you need to exercise. Exercise oxygenates your blood with deep full breaths, every foot fall moves your lymph around and helps your body to process nutrients & clear toxins. You can often find that after a brisk walk you will no longer feel tired and more mentally alert.
It is true exercise can help you to lose weight, mostly by releasing a fat burning enzyme into your blood stream that can remain for many hours afterwards, rather than the benefit of burning calories. It takes a lot of exercise to burn enough calories to make a real difference. For example, a 20 minute run will burn about 200 calories whereas a cheese burger has 400 calories. Another way exercise can help you to lose weight is by building muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn during normal activities.
And, what kind of calories matter, The benefit of exercise towards burning fat is easily compromised by the presence of insulin in your bloodstream. If you eat fats with insulin in your blood they become fat. Nothing gets 'burned'.
The key with any sort of exercise is regularity, and gentleness. This may seem to be a weird word to associate with physical activity but it is always wise to approach any exercise routine conservatively and slowly build up over time. It's important to give your body time to adapt. People often feel a need to start with an intense regime that they are unable to keep up with whereas it's much better to start with an activity you can be sure you can easily continue. With exercise, a little goes a long way! (see info graphic below).
Current research recommends 40 minutes of intense exercise, or 90 minutes of light exercise a day. Of course, any exercise will have a positive effect on your entire life. It is probably the easiest, most effective, free action you can take to improve your overall health and well being.
It is true exercise can help you to lose weight, mostly by releasing a fat burning enzyme into your blood stream that can remain for many hours afterwards, rather than the benefit of burning calories. It takes a lot of exercise to burn enough calories to make a real difference. For example, a 20 minute run will burn about 200 calories whereas a cheese burger has 400 calories. Another way exercise can help you to lose weight is by building muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn during normal activities.
And, what kind of calories matter, The benefit of exercise towards burning fat is easily compromised by the presence of insulin in your bloodstream. If you eat fats with insulin in your blood they become fat. Nothing gets 'burned'.
The key with any sort of exercise is regularity, and gentleness. This may seem to be a weird word to associate with physical activity but it is always wise to approach any exercise routine conservatively and slowly build up over time. It's important to give your body time to adapt. People often feel a need to start with an intense regime that they are unable to keep up with whereas it's much better to start with an activity you can be sure you can easily continue. With exercise, a little goes a long way! (see info graphic below).
Current research recommends 40 minutes of intense exercise, or 90 minutes of light exercise a day. Of course, any exercise will have a positive effect on your entire life. It is probably the easiest, most effective, free action you can take to improve your overall health and well being.
