Exercise – how does it make us healthier?
Our body responds in many ways to exercise, such as increasing the size of muscle fibres for greater strength or by increasing the amount of capillaries at a muscle to remove waste product and deliver oxygen.
When we exercise, we set these physiological changes in place by fatiguing muscles (and by recovery after exercise) or by forcing the body to adapt to repeat exercise bouts. Another example of adapting to exercise is to increase the numbers of cells used to produce energy (the mitochondria). This has been proven to increase the amount of energy available to the body while exercising or even just undertaking day to day activity.
All these different processes give you energy, strength and the ability to physically cope with our day to day stress and lifestyle, by making it a more efficient unit.
Health – Are your larger serving sizes making your waistline larger?
With all the information we have out on the internet, television and other sources, most people have a good idea of the basics of what they should be eating, yet as a nation we are still growing.
Our perception of portion sizes can be an area that is bringing us unstuck, making the job to maintain a healthy weight or to lose weight more challenging. An example is a serving of pasta (grain products). Most of us would see a plate covered in pasta as a normal meal serving size (usually two or three cups). The actual recommended serving size for pasta is 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup (500 kj). The difference between three cups and the recommended serving size is about 1200 kj, which equates to approximately 50 minutes of cardiovascular exercise. Have you had a good look at your serving sizes?
Exercise of the week – dumbbell squats
This week we look at a very simple and often overlooked exercise for the legs, the dumbbell squat. This exercise is great for all the leg muscles, lower back muscles and the abdominal muscles that support the torso. Tips to help are:
- Breathe in on the way down and out on the way up, try not to hold your breathe at any point.
- Have a weight that enables you to maintain your shoulders back in a natural position, not dropping forward into a rolled shoulder position.
- Start with the feet shoulder width apart, with the toes facing forwards.
Having the squat as a fundamental exercise in any routine will help to keep a great posture and you fitting into those jeans.
Life tip
The boiling frog theory is how we let things become overwhelming and become much harder to address. Try and tackle problems while they are little, before they consume your time and energy and become a musch bigger struggle. Losing weight after it has built up is an example of this.
Wise words
Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.
Have a great week and enjoy life. David