Yes, I said the dreaded "E" word. I know you don't want to hear it, but your body is designed to be moving. We have lots and lots of muscles and a great cardiovascular system that enables us to move all day long. Do you think the cavemen sat around in their caves all day relaxing, taking baths and naps, and reading Newsweek? I don't think so. They were probably up at the crack of dawn, roaming the neighborhood to find food. I bet they did a great deal of moving around. And as a result, there were not a lot of obese cavemen.
Fast forward to modern man, with all his conveniences. We don't have to hunt and forage for food anymore. Heck, we don't even have to GROW our own food anymore. And technically we don't even have to leave our sofas for food anymore. We can order groceries or pizza online and have them delivered to our door! Chopping and cooking? Nah, just microwave a frozen meal. Wash your clothes by hand in a washtub and hang them on a line to dry? Nah, just use a washing machine and dryer. We drive cars or ride
buses instead of walking. We sit at desk jobs while our muscles atrophy. We don't expend much energy, and rarely if ever break a sweat. Our hearts get fatty and our bodies get lazy and
smooshy . We feel sluggish because we ARE sluggish. Time to change all that!
If you think you are too heavy or out of shape to exercise, you're probably wrong. (Ask your doctor to be sure). But do you know how I started out? With a walk out the door and literally 25 feet down the sidewalk and back. That's all I could do. You have to start somewhere. And like I said earlier this week, I started out with a few minutes on my exercise bike and worked up to 20 minutes over several months. You can do it and you WILL feel better because your body is meant to move.
I have never been an exercise fan, either. I never played any sports or did anything strenuous unless I had to. But I realise if I want to be healthy and lose this weight, I have to get moving. Research has shown that those people who lose weight and KEEP it off are the ones who exercise regularly. So I committed to an exercise program. I usually do not FEEL like exercising, but I do it anyway, and then I feel great afterwards.
Right now my exercise is to ride my exercise bike 20 minutes, 3-4x a week. But this week I added in some strength training, too. There are so many benefits to strength training. It helps build muscle, which burns more calories, and it is energizing and makes your body strong. Maybe you think you could never do it, but you can. Give it a try. All you need is a set of $5 dumbbells from
Wal -mart to get started. I found all my exercises, along with video demonstrations, on
sparkpeople .com.
My routine is simple:
Dumbbell biceps curls
Dumbbell shrugs
Dumbbell triceps extensions
Shoulder combo raise
Standing spinal twist
Standing side bends with towel
Crunches
Lying Abduction (side leg raises)
Calf raises
That's it! I do 2 sets of 12 reps each. I use 5lb dumbbells. I also do a few basic stretches and a couple of knee-specific physical therapy exercises (floor quad presses, hamstring and quad stretches, and a balance exercise). I do this whole thing in my bedroom in the evenings, 3 times a week. It takes 15-20 minutes total. And I feel really good when I am done.
Hey, I am far from a gym bunny and I never want to be one. I don't care much about weight lifting or working out or any of that stuff, but I DO care about my body and my health, which is why I am investing in myself this way. I know it will pay off and make me stronger.
So how about it? Want to try a few weeks of strength training and see how you feel?
Fast forward to modern man, with all his conveniences. We don't have to hunt and forage for food anymore. Heck, we don't even have to GROW our own food anymore. And technically we don't even have to leave our sofas for food anymore. We can order groceries or pizza online and have them delivered to our door! Chopping and cooking? Nah, just microwave a frozen meal. Wash your clothes by hand in a washtub and hang them on a line to dry? Nah, just use a washing machine and dryer. We drive cars or ride buses instead of walking. We sit at desk jobs while our muscles atrophy. We don't expend much energy, and rarely if ever break a sweat. Our hearts get fatty and our bodies get lazy and smooshy . We feel sluggish because we ARE sluggish. Time to change all that!
If you think you are too heavy or out of shape to exercise, you're probably wrong. (Ask your doctor to be sure). But do you know how I started out? With a walk out the door and literally 25 feet down the sidewalk and back. That's all I could do. You have to start somewhere. And like I said earlier this week, I started out with a few minutes on my exercise bike and worked up to 20 minutes over several months. You can do it and you WILL feel better because your body is meant to move.
I have never been an exercise fan, either. I never played any sports or did anything strenuous unless I had to. But I realise if I want to be healthy and lose this weight, I have to get moving. Research has shown that those people who lose weight and KEEP it off are the ones who exercise regularly. So I committed to an exercise program. I usually do not FEEL like exercising, but I do it anyway, and then I feel great afterwards.
Right now my exercise is to ride my exercise bike 20 minutes, 3-4x a week. But this week I added in some strength training, too. There are so many benefits to strength training. It helps build muscle, which burns more calories, and it is energizing and makes your body strong. Maybe you think you could never do it, but you can. Give it a try. All you need is a set of $5 dumbbells from Wal -mart to get started. I found all my exercises, along with video demonstrations, on sparkpeople .com.
My routine is simple:
Dumbbell biceps curls
Dumbbell shrugs
Dumbbell triceps extensions
Shoulder combo raise
Standing spinal twist
Standing side bends with towel
Crunches
Lying Abduction (side leg raises)
Calf raises
That's it! I do 2 sets of 12 reps each. I use 5lb dumbbells. I also do a few basic stretches and a couple of knee-specific physical therapy exercises (floor quad presses, hamstring and quad stretches, and a balance exercise). I do this whole thing in my bedroom in the evenings, 3 times a week. It takes 15-20 minutes total. And I feel really good when I am done.
Hey, I am far from a gym bunny and I never want to be one. I don't care much about weight lifting or working out or any of that stuff, but I DO care about my body and my health, which is why I am investing in myself this way. I know it will pay off and make me stronger.
So how about it? Want to try a few weeks of strength training and see how you feel?