Studies show that exercising early in the day will make for a more productive workday. For best results, alternate bursts of rapid activity – like running – with a slower activity – like walking – over a 30-minute period. This will give you more energy than going at a steady pace for 45 minutes. Also, try one-minute sets of jumping jacks throughout your day to get the blood flowing and to fight off those mid-day blahs!
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Fitness Myth: The Less You Eat – The More You Lose
You’d think this would be true, wouldn’t you? A lot of us think that if we cut out a meal or two, we’ll lose weight. But when the body senses the lack of food, it goes into a self-preservation mode. Thinking it’s being starved, it slows digestion and holds on to fat.
To effectively lose weight and boost your metablism, it’s best to eat small meals throughout the day than to skip meals and go hungry. This way your body will burn fat rather than store it. And add some exercise into the mix and your body becomes an efficient, fat-burning machine. In fact, it will even burn fat when you aren’t exercising. How great is that!
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An Ounce of Prevention
The breakdown of cartilage that causes the pain and stiffness associated with osteoarthritis is usually considered an unavoidable part of aging. Other factors that contribute to joint pain can be weight, injuries and genetic disposition. But recent osteoarthritis studies suggest that, due to our increased participation in high-impact activities, we may be developing the condition much earlier in life – sometimes as young as 25! So what can you do to help prevent osteoarthritis?
1. Low impact exercise. An inactive lifestyle will weaken the muscles and joints, so it’s important to keep moving. Exercise keeps muscles strong, increases blood flow to your joints and nourishes the cartilage, which can help slow the progession of the disease. Studies have shown that low impact exercise won’t make arthritis worse and will help actually decrease discomfort and inflamation. Try cycling, walking or swimming and include exercises to improve core strength and coordination.
2. Alternative therapies. Studies have shown that acupuncture, yoga and tai chi reduce the pain and inflamation, and even the depression, caused by arthritis. Behavioral scientists who studied arthritic patients suffering with depression found that those who practiced yoga, not only increased their strength and physical ability, but increased their levels of mental well-being, as well.
3.
Natural Pain Relievers.
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplements have been shown to reduce severe osteoarthritis pain. Steffany Haaz, Ph.D., a behavioral researcher at the
Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, says “about half the people that we work with seem to experience an improvement in symptoms. It can take a few months of use, but the side effects are low.” Other natural anti-inflammatories that have been shown to ease pain and inflamation are
ginger and
cat’s claw.
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Fitness Myth: The Longer You Exercise, the More Weight You Lose
You may be surprised to learn that extended periods of aerobic exercise can actually prevent you from losing weight. It’s true that the more you work out, the more you stimulate your body to burn fat. That’s good, of course, but it also increases the production of cortisol, a hormone that increases in the body when it’s under stress and, among other things, causes your body to store fat (especially around the middle).
To optimize your weight loss, limit your exercise sessions to around 45 minutes, making sure to work within your target heart rate zone. You can always work out more, if you like, but for best results, divide your workout sessions so that you only exercise for 45 minutes at a time.
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