Your exercise questions answered!

Exercise:

Is exercise really that important for my health? If I don’t need to lose weight, do I still need to exercise?

- Yes! Exercise has physical and mental/emotional benefits. Physically, exercise helps to reduce inflammation, boost your metabolism, burn fat, strengthen your cardiovascular health, boost lung capacity and improve your digestion. Exercise can also help boost your energy levels, and your memory and brain function. The mental and emotional benefits of exercise include improved mood, decreased stress levels, and increased relaxation.

- Exercise:

o   Better energy. Exercise helps boost your metabolism and your thyroid which means more energy for you. It also helps improve your sleep at night providing you with a more restful night so you have more energy throughout the day.

o   Improves your cardiovascular health which means lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke.

o   Improves your immune system. Exercise boosts your immune system which means you get sick less often and it’s less severe if you do get sick.

o   Improved muscle and bone health which means stronger muscles, healthier bones and less osteoporosis (and fractures).

o   Improves digestion which means less indigestion and constipation.

o   Improves your brain function and reduces your risk of dementia.

o   Improves your mood which means decreased rates of depression and anxiety.

Am I doing enough? How much is too much?

- The ideal amount of exercise is different for everyone. We all have different needs, different health and exercise goals, and different bodies. In order to figure out how much exercise you need, determine what your exercise goals are. The key to the right amount of exercise is balance. Are you looking to get healthier, decrease your stress, improve your cardiovascular health, lose weight, or simply just tone up?

- Start slow. If you haven’t been exercising, starting out exercising 6-7 days a week right out of the gate is not only hard to commit to long term, but is also hard on your body. Let your body adjust to your new exercise regimen by starting slow – think 2-3 days/week with lighter exercise before jumping right in. If you are sore for more than a day (or two) after you exercise, you likely overdid it. Slowly add in an extra day when you are no longer sore from your current exercise. Increase your intensity and duration as you notice that what you have been doing is getting easier and is no longer as challenging or satisfying and your heart rate is getting as high as it was when you started.

- If you’re looking to improve your overall health or tone up physically, often exercise every other day is sufficient, including a variety of exercises to improve your outcome. If you’re just starting out, start with 2-3 days per week and work up to 3-4 days/week.

- Exercise is great for stress relief, but too much exercise can actually be an added stress on your body. That means that some of the great benefits of the exercise you just did are negated by the extra stress from overdoing it. If you are under a lot of stress, plan to exercise 2-3 days/week to avoid over-stressing your already stressed out body and increase the days as your stress decreases. This also applies if you’re trying to lose weight. While more may seem better for weight loss, it can have the opposite effect if you stress out your body and your adrenal glands (your stress glands) in the process. Stressed out adrenal glands actually promote weight gain. For more information on stress and adrenal health, click here.

- For cardiovascular health, you want to make sure you are exercising enough to increase your heart rate and strengthen your heart muscle, without overdoing it. If you end up feeling lightheaded, experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath (more than would be expected from your activities), or over-fatigued afterward, you need to slow it down. These may be a sign that you are doing more harm than good by overworking your heart instead of strengthening it. Decrease the time and/or the intensity of your activity to ensure you are not getting these side effects.

What’s the best exercise for me?

- Different types of exercise have different benefits so which exercise you pick will depend on your exercise goals.

- If you’re looking to help promote bone health and avoid osteoporosis as you head into menopause, you need weight-bearing exercise, such as light weight lifting. Weight-bearing exercise helps to improve bone density.

- If you’re looking to lose weight, the most efficient exercise is a mix of strength training and cardio interval training. Interval training burns fats and can help increase your heart rate more quickly and burn more calories in a shorter amount of time.

-  If you are looking for stress reduction, try cardio (such as hiking, fast walking or light jogging) and exercise that incorporates mindfulness such as yoga. Hiking is a great option because it gets you outside in nature while you’re exercising which can have added stress busting effects. Exercise for stress relief should be enjoyable. If you don’t enjoy the activity, it is not going to be as beneficial for stress relief.

- If you have limited time, choosing higher intensity exercise such as high intensity interval training with high intensity bursts of cardio mixed with weight training or slower paced cardio is a great option. You want to aim to get your heart rate up quickly if you have limited time to make sure you’re getting the most out of your shorter workout.

There are so many health benefits to exercise. Exercise is not just important if you’re trying to lose weight, but it helps your overall health and wellness. Any exercise is better than no exercise so start exercising today to experience the benefits.

Schedule a time to meet with Dr. Sahni in her Portland, Oregon Naturopathic Practice to discuss ways you can sustain a healthy life!