Your exercise tip – Training types and their results (a general guide)
How and the way you train will dictate your results. Here are a few methods with the results you would likely achieve.
Cardiovascular
o General mixed intensities (200 minutes per week)– this will maintain a reasonable level of good heart health and help you maintain a healthy weight.
o Intervals/fartlek/HIIT (high intensity interval training) – these shorter bouts will allow the body to adapt to intense day to day activities, will have good health and fitness benefits, and are a great calorie burner for weight loss. It is a more efficient training style for those who are short of time
o Long low intensity sessions – this will allow the body to handle longer periods of activity (like marathon running or endurance activities) without becoming fatigued, but generally will not allow you to adapt to intense activity periods requiring high energy expenditure. This is a way to burn calories off the body, but generally not the most efficient.
Resistance training
o Heavier, repeated sets – this type will generally build bulkier/leaner muscle that is strong, but will not have great amounts of stamina. Is a great foundation for a high calorie burning metabolism.
o Circuit style resistance – This type of training can build lean muscle, and stamina in the body, with great calories burning potential (at the time). It is almost a cross over into a combination of cardiovascular and resistance training.
o HIIT (High intensity interval training) – this is a great way to increase the strength from the muscle you have, is a great calorie burner and is a more efficient training style for those who are short of time. This training is not for the faint hearted.
As you can see, there are a few different ways to train, with varied results from each. Choosing the right type will make all the difference to what you want.
Your health tip – Change your perception of eating meals
These days there are mountains of information on what we should eat and when we should eat those types of foods. The general consensus from food authorities is that you aim to eat 30+ different types of food each day, to attain the ideal amounts of energy, vitamins and minerals needed by the body. At which meal should you eat each food type?
During our upbringing, we are taught a pattern of programmed eating, at specific times and the foods we should eat. This then becomes ingrained into our lifestyle which we maintain almost religiously. If you are in a static eating pattern, and not getting the foods in you need, why not think outside the square? There really are no rules as to when you should or should not eat your foods, just as long as you maintain the variety as best you can. Listen to your body and eat when you are hungry, try not override those natural mechanisms we have in place that tell us when we are full. Have you tried a salad for breakfast lately?
Exercise of the week
This week I will cover stretches for the hamstring group of muscles. There are two options, one with a straight leg and one with a bent knee.
Tips to this stretch are:
• Keep the foot of the leg on the ground facing the same direction the leg being stretched is facing.
• Stretch slowly, try not to bounce.
• For improving flexibility, hold for 60 seconds or more, or for recovery after exercise, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Stretch to where you feel slight discomfort, not pain.
Your life tip
When you finish with a tool or an item you have used, put it away. This can save a lot of cluttering and will make tidying up later easier.
This week’s wise words
A real friend is one who walks in when others walk out.
Have a great week and keep healthy in 2016. David.