What Qualifies as Exercise? Part 1

You may be thinking that you have to go to a gym and work out on the machines, or do an exercise class to get “qualified” exercise. That is certainly one way, but just as certainly not the only way.

You can get your workouts at home and save some money – first in the club sign-up fee and monthly dues, then in driving costs, and in that perhaps most precious of all commodities, time.

Dumbbells are cheap and easily found at Walmart, Target, sports stores – even garage sales.

How to know what to do with your dumbells, or what routine to do at home? There is a plethora of dvds and videos available, made by incredible fitness gurus.

Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser tv series has great dvd’s, and there are many others that you can check out at Amazon.com. Read the reviews to see if a certain workout will be a good match for you.

Garage sales are again a great source, as are Amazon, eBay, overstock.com, half.com, craigslist, etc. Utube has free videos of workouts online, and of course many magazines have exercises in some of their articles.

So, if you are disciplined you can get a full workout at home, suited to your schedule and your personal preferences.

But, consider this: Walking in your neighborhood is free and one of the very best exercises you can do. Take your dog for a walk if you’re not already, even if he or she is older and can’t go as fast or as far as you would go by yourself. It’s healthy for her, too.

More on this next time…..

In the meantime, go take a walk! :-)

Exercise - It Does a Body Good! Part 2

Last time we talked about the three main types of exercise:

. Aerobic
. Flexibility
. Anaerobic

Now we'll go into each a little more fully.

Aerobic or Cardiovascular

Aerobic means “with oxygen”, and Cardiovascular means “involving or relating to the human heart and blood vessels”.

The cardiovascular system is composed of the heart and blood vessels, and is responsible for circulating oxygen-rich blood throughout the body and removing waste products.

Examples of this type of exercise include walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling, rebounding, snow shoveling, any sustained activity that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up for a minimum of 20-30 minutes.

Flexibility. Daily stretching lengthens muscles, increases range of motion and mobility, and can relax you. Remember to breathe deeply!

This can be part of your cool-down after your aerobic exercise. For years we were told to do our stretching prior to a workout, but now we know that the muscles first have to be warmed up in order to prevent injury.

Anaerobic exercise refers to strength or weight training. You can use the obvious tools such as dumbells, or you can use your own body weight and do push-up or sit-ups, etc.

This type of exercise will strengthen muscles and bones, increase bone density, normalize hormonal levels, and reduce your biological age. If you want to prevent weakening of your bones as you age, this is a far more effective way than taking calcium supplements or drinking milk of any type.

A word of caution: Remember to not overdo at first. Just start from wherever you are and increase gradually from there.

Do not get discouraged, but keep at it, and you WILL see improvement! Your body will thank you for it.

Now go and have a great workout! :-)