Benefits of regular exercise
- Reduces your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes and obesity
- Keeps joints, tendons and ligaments flexible, which makes it easier to move around
- Reduces some of the effects of ageing
- Contributes to your mental well-being and helps treat depression
- Helps relieve stress and anxiety
- Increases your energy and endurance
- Improves your sleep cycle
- Helps you maintain a normal weight by increasing your metabolism rate.
How much exercise do I need?
Talk to your doctor about how much exercise is appropriate for you. A good goal for many people is to exercise up to 4 – 6 times per week for a minimum of 30 – 60 minutes at a time. Remember that exercising has many health benefits that even a minimal amount is better than none.
Aerobic exercise is the type of exercise that moves large muscle groups, causes you to breathe deeper, your heart to pump more blood and increase your lung capacity. This type of exercise is also called cardiovascular training.
Examples; include but are not limited to walking, jogging, running, aerobic dancing, cycling, rowing, swimming etc.
How can I prevent exercise-related injuries?
Start every workout with 5 to 10 minutes of warm-up. This will increase the flexibility of your muscles and joints. Then spend 20 to 30 minutes performing a cardiovascular exercise that will slowly increase your muscle endurance and heart rate. End your exercise session with 5 to 7 minutes of cool down moves that will return your heart rate back to normal.
General instructions:
Stop exercising if you feel out of breath, dizzy, lightheaded, nauseated or develop any type of pain.
Exercise can prevent kids from obesity.
Inactive kids are more likely to become obese adults, making it more likely they’ll suffer from heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Exercise can prevent obesity. Three out of ten boys and four out of ten girls are risking their health by not getting enough exercise. By the time they reach fifteen, just two out of ten girls achieve the recommended one hour a day of physical activity. The health implications are alarming. Inactive children are more likely to become obese or turn into inactive adults – making it up to fifty percent more likely they will suffer from heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer, and cutting short their life by up to seven years.A lack of exercise has also been linked to poor educational achievement, low self-esteem and a general lack of confidence in children. The Department of Health says kids should get at least sixty minutes of moderate physical activity every day such as walking or cycling, even if it’s broken up into small bouts of exercise.
Some Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain.
- Stress can cause weight gain, manage stress by getting enough sleep and exercise to reduce stress and prevent overeating.
- Watch portion sizes; eat favourite holiday food in moderation, such as cookies etc…
- Limit alcohol to avoid extra calories.
- Avoid skipping meals, as this may lead to overeating later on, a slowdown in metabolism, and fatigue.
- Get a good amount of sleep; lack of sleep makes it harder to resist fattening foods.
- Never go to parties hungry since it is easy to overeat when starving. Eat a small, nutritious snack before leaving for a party or drink a glass of water before hitting the buffet table.
- Prepare baked food or holiday meals using natural sweeteners or lower-calorie and lower-fat versions of ingredients.
- Eat slowly and wait at least 15 minutes before going back for a second helping. This gives the body enough time to feel satiated.
- Maintain a normal workout schedule to balance food intake and calorie burn. If time is an issue, consider shorter, more intense workouts.
- Remember that the holidays are about more than food. Plan activities that revolve around enjoying family and friends to divert attention from food.
- The best way to avoid gaining extra weight during holidays is; balancing between food intake and physical activity.
