Wellness Check: Movement 2

If we’re already nailing the part where we move our bodies on the regular, it might be time to consider whether we’re getting enough exercise.  All bodies need exercise; what that exercise consists of varies from body to body.  What follows are some general principles that need to be applied with love and common sense.

There are three categories of exercise that most people need:  cardio, strength training, and balance/flexibility work.  The guideline for cardio is that we need to get our heart rate up for about 150 minutes per week, which works out to 30 minutes a day for five days.  There is some math we can do to figure out what constitutes “up” (220 minus your age gives you your maximum heart rate.  Your cardio range is from 65-85% of that number.), but I personally like the talk test better:  if you can talk with some pauses for breath, you’re working hard enough; if you can sing, you’re not doing the job; if you can’t carry on a conversation, you’re doing too much.  How you get your heart rate up is up to you.  The possibilities are legion:  walk, run, swim, bike, play soccer, chase the kids, do stairs, dance…  Bottom line:  five days, 30 minutes, briskly.

 

For strength training, we want to do one to three strength workouts per week.  What we do depends on our goals.  Talking to a trainer (hey, that’s me!) can help clarify what might be a good idea.  No matter what the goals are, we want to use weights heavy enough that it’s hard for us to complete the final rep in a set.  The number on the dumbbell should go up as we keep working, not every time, but every couple months at least.

 

Balance and flexibility are skills.  I know a lot of us think of them as talents, but both things improve with practice.  There are a couple of ways to go about that practice.  There are always yoga and Pilates classes or individual sessions (yep, me again!).  However, we can use those otherwise wasted minutes throughout our day to build in some practice time.  We can stand on one foot while we brush our teeth.  We can stretch while we wait for the microwave.  We can do some single leg squats in line at the grocery store (bonus points for amusing our fellow shoppers).

 

If all that still seems complicated, talk to me.  I’d be happy to help sort it out.