Exercise: the secret to better health
Whether you’re 9 or 90, abundant evidence indicates that exercise can enhance your health and well-being. But for many people, sedentary pastimes, such as watching TV, surfing the Internet, or playing computer games, have replaced more active pursuits.
What exercise can do for you
Millions of people simply aren’t moving enough to meet the minimum threshold for good health — that is, burning around 2000 calories a week through physical activity. The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid scientific evidence confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, particularly breast and colon cancer. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, and sharpen your mind.
A well-rounded exercise program has four components: aerobic activity, strength training, flexibility training, and balance exercises. Each benefits your body in a different way.
Fighting disease with aerobic activity
Aerobic exercise is the centrepiece of any fitness program. Nearly all of the research regarding the disease-fighting benefits of exercise revolves around cardiovascular activity, which includes walking, jogging, swimming, and cycling. Experts recommend working out at moderate intensity when you perform aerobic exercise — brisk walking that quickens your breathing is one example. This level of activity is safe for almost everyone and provides the desired positive outcome. Additional health benefits may come from increased intensity of exercises.
Protecting bones with strength training
Strength or resistance training, such as elastic-band workouts and the use of weight machines or free weights, is important for building muscle and protecting bone.
Bones lose calcium and weaken with age, but strength training can help slow or sometimes even reverse this trend. Not only can strength training make you look and feel better, but it can also result in better performance of everyday activities, such as climbing stairs and carrying bags. Stronger muscles also mean better mobility and balance, and thus a lower risk of falling and injuring yourself. In addition, leaner body mass aids in weight control, because each pound of muscle burns more calories than its equivalent in fat.
Easing back pain with flexibility exercises
Stretching or flexibility training is the third branch of a balanced exercise program. Muscles tend to shorten and weaken with age. Shorter, stiffer muscle fibres make you vulnerable to injuries, back pain, and stress. But regularly performing exercises that isolate and stretch the elastic fibres surrounding your muscles and tendons can counteract this process. Moreover, stretching improves your posture and balance!
Preventing tripping and falling with balance exercises
Our balance tends to worsen over time, and regularly performing balance exercises is one of the best ways to protect against falls that lead to temporary or permanent disability. Balance exercises take only a few minutes and often fit easily into the warm-up portion of a workout. Many strength-training exercises also serve as balance exercises. Or balance-enhancing movements may simply be woven into other forms of exercise, such as tai chi, yoga, and Pilates.
Exercise at a glance
In a nutshell, exercise can:
• reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of suffering from it;
• lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes;
• reduce your risk of colon cancer and some of the other forms of cancer;
• improve your mood and mental capacity;
• lower emotional stress;
• boost your energy levels;
• keep your bones strong and joints healthy;
• help you maintain a healthy weight;
• help you maintain your independence well into your later years.
So, do not hesitate, just make exercise part of your everyday life!
How to stay active and get healthy
It is commonly known that changing a routine is not as easy as it might seem, so here are 9 simple pointers which can help you redirect your life. And remember: you do not need to go outside to work out – some free space on the floor and a spark of motivation are more than enough!
1. Put activity on your daily “To Do” List!
2. Encourage your whole family to exercise together and motivate each other.
3. Download an application on your mobile device which will remind you about staying active.
4. Join an online group, where people exercise together.
5. Search for workout programs, videos on the Internet or a fitness coach who will help you compose a plan dedicated specifically for you.
6. Find activities that suit you best and have a variety of options so that you can adjust to changing interests and moods.
7. Leave shoes, clothes, and exercise equipment where you can see them.
8. Be active – stay in motion. Exercise at your usual eating time and then eat afterwards. You will often feel less hungry.
9. Try to incorporate exercise into your daily basic activities, such as, for instance: walk up the stairs rather than use the elevator, do some gardening or clean the house, and if you are working from home, get up every hour or so and do some stretching. Remember: small decisions make a difference!
Healthy diet
Incorporating nutritious products into your diet is an indispensable step towards providing you with energy for the entire day, especially when you lead an active life. Wellness by Oriflame has created products that will help you achieve your goal.
Use Oriflame’s Wellness Natural Balance Shake or Protein Blend before and after exercise to help fuel and refuel your body.
Consume your Wellness Packs daily – astaxanthin and blueberries are rich in powerful antioxidants that can help ease the feeling of stiffness and discomfort often associated with activity and exercise (especially for people beginning a new exercise regimen).
Help your body recover and feel better, so you can embrace and love your active lifestyle.
Wellness by Oriflame – for total body well-being!
