9 Ways Exercise Will Boost Your Life

Making exercise apart of your lifestyle will increase your quality and quantity of life. Exercise has been proven over and over again to affect the body and boost your life in the nine ways stated below.

Why You Should Exercise:

1. It strengthens the cardiovascular system
The strength of your heart and lungs will benefit wherever your vascular network goes…which is everywhere (including the brain).

2. It regulates fuel
As you age, the insulin levels start to drop and glucose has a harder time getting into your cells (which puts you at higher risk for diabetes). Exercise will regulate these two hormones and help glucose (the fuel of the body) to get into your cells.

3. It reduces obesity
Body fat not only brings chaos to the body, but it also encourages destruction in the brain. Exercise fights obesity by burning calories and decreasing appetite.

4. It elevates your stress threshold
Your body can learn to deal with high levels of stress through exercise. This will help your body to slow the aging process.

5. It lifts your mood
Studies have shown how keeping a good mood can lower our chances for dementia and depression. Lifting your mood will keep you connected with life by being involved and making friends.

6. It boosts the immune system
Your immune system will naturally start to decline as you age. Exercise will enhance your immune system’s ability to fight foreign invaders (cancer and disease) and heal damaged tissue.

7. It fortifies your bones
Osteoporosis is a serious disease and can be avoided through weight bearing exercise. It is important to have strong bones so you can continue to exercise as you age.

8. It boosts motivation
Exercise will challenge your body and brain. Challenges boost our motivation, which keeps us from falling into a sedentary lifestyle.

9. It fosters neuroplasticity
You can decrease your risk for neurodegenerative diseases by exercising. Exercise will strengthen the connections between your brain cells. Your brain will improve its ability to remember, to learn, to process more complex thoughts, and to handle any damage that comes.


Exercise will boost Quality and Quantity of life. However, it is not exercise alone, it is exercise, diet, and staying mentally active combined. It’s hard to ignore the advice when we have learned so much about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to improve our quality and quantity of life.

Stay active and treat your body well.

* The information for this post can be found in the book Spark by John J. Ratey, M.D.

An Exercise You Will Love – 'Turkish Get Up'

When you learn a new exercise, it can rejuvenate your exercise passion. This exercise, the ‘Turkish Get Up’, is a functional and practical exercise.

The exercise consists of using a weight (a dumbbell) and holding it straight toward the ceiling as you get up and lie back down. Sounds simple…but this one exercise will work and strengthen your whole body.

It’s probably best to start with a weight of 10 to 15lbs. When doing the Turkish Get Up, make sure to fix your eyes upon the dumbbell the entire time. Also, make sure to do the exercise with both the right and left arm.

It is important to perform this exercise correctly. View this video to see the Turkish Get Up step by step. Once you get the hang of this exercise you will love it.

Why Do Yoga?

Contrary to what people think, yoga goes way beyond just simply stretching. Yoga benefits both the physical and psychological sides of a person.

Your overall wellbeing, from the outside to the core, will be affected when you do yoga. It targets all aspects of health: body, mind, breath, and awareness.

Body: Among many other things, yoga will help increase your balance, strength, and flexibility.

Mind: Yoga’s main focus is to teach you how to attain a calm mind or a mind at peace. Yoga will help relieve your mind of confusion and distress.

Breath: Yoga will help your breathing to become more efficient (by engaging your whole abdomen and diaphragm to breath), which will increase your lung capacity and reduce anxiety.

Awareness: Yoga will help with awareness by connecting the mind and body, making you aware of both. When mind and body start working together, the abilities of both will increase.

“Words fail to convey the total value of yoga. It has to be experienced.” – Prashant S. Lyengar
Yoga benefits people of all ages, personalities, and conditions; so go out and give yoga a try. Try different types of yoga: power yoga, aquatic (water) yoga, vinyasa yoga, etc. “Shop around” and find what type of teacher and form of yoga you enjoy most.

*If you don’t want to go to a class try a video or do some simple yoga poses at home.

'Smart' Incentive to Keep Exercising

“I think the good news – if we take it seriously – is that many of the same factors that can reduce our risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes also reduce the risk for age-related neurodegenerative disorders,” says neuroscientist Mark Mattson from the National Institute on Aging.

As we all age, our chance for brain diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease) increases. However, the exercises we do to keep our body healthy will also keep our brain healthy through the aging process.
-Aging naturally lowers our stress threshold in our brain, which increases the risk of brain disease. Exercise will slow down this natural aging process by helping our brain cells to cope with stress better.

-When exercising, you are sparking connections and growth in your brain’s cell network, which keeps your brain agile and ready to learn. An agile brain is less susceptible to aging brain diseases.

-Exercise not only keeps the brain from deterioration due to aging, but it also reverses it.
That being said, no matter what age or condition, exercise can increase our brain health and protect our mind.

Exercise is one of the few ways to slow down the aging process. Use exercise as a preventative medicine and as an antidote.

* The information for this post can be found in the book Spark by John J. Ratey, M.D.

Ways To Manage Stress

Too much stress can start to harm your body physically, mentally, and spiritually. Therefore, it’s important to learn how to manage stress in stressful situations.

Ways to manage stress:

1. Exercise – gives the body a positive outlook about stress. When you are exercising your body is going through stress – your muscles are tight…your blood pressure is raised…your breathing is fast. You are forcing your body and mind to adapt to stress. Exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress.

2. Imagery – can help when you are stuck in stressful situations, like being in traffic while in a hurry. Image a place where you feel the most peace. Use all five senses: feel the sand, taste the salty air, watch the waterfall cover the rocks, smell the flowers, and hear the leaves rustle from the breeze.

3. Yoga – can help to relax the mind and body. If you are not the yoga type, you can always do a little stretching.

4. Meditate – and think about what is happening in the present time instead of thinking of things you have to deal with in the future or past. Also, you could ponder thoughts such as ‘this will pass’, ‘control yourself, not others’, ‘let go’, ‘it’s not a perfect world’, etc.

5. Deep Breathing – by filling up your whole stomach (instead of chest) with air, and then letting it all out in a long sigh.

6. Massage – your hands by interlacing your fingers and using your thumbs to massage your palms. Or you could go get a massage.

7. Music – usually helps if it is relaxing or soothing, but everyone’s different.

8. Reading

9. Art, Drawing, Doodling, or Painting

10. Express Emotions – by crying, laughing, writing, or talking.

There are many other ways to manage stress. Everyone is different, so find what helps you manage stress the best.

Let stress make you stronger.

Stress – Good and Bad

Most people hate stress and wish their life to be ‘stress free.’ However, stress is not always the bad guy. If your life was stress free, you might get bored and have no motivation.

Actually, stress is a fundamental part of life.

When you are weight lifting, you are tearing down your muscles so they build up stronger. The same thing happens with stress. With a good amount of stress, your body will tear down physically and mentally and then build back stronger.

Good stress consists of: exercise, deadlines, tests, presentations, sporting events, etc.; as well as joy, excitement, thrill, fear, happiness, etc.

This good stress is referred to as eustress. The bad stress, which we normally refer to as just ‘stress’, is referred to as distress.

Distress occurs when too much stress is placed upon the body – mentally and/or physically.

How distress can harm the body:
- increase fat distribution in the midsection
- raise blood pressure
- possibly damage blood vessels
- decrease mind’s ability to think rationally, realistically, and clearly
- disrupt digestion, leading to irritable bowel syndrome
- increase headaches
- increase allergies
- …etc.

Distress can be very harmful; thus, we need to be able to recognize when eustress is turning into distress. Try to notice what stress you can handle and when the stress is becoming too much. When you feel you are falling apart physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually; then you are going through distress.

Once you start to recognize distress, you can learn ways to calm down or manage stress; so you can build your body stronger instead of damage your body.

To be continued… ‘Ways To Manage Stress’ will be posted tomorrow.

Beating Boredom While Exercising

Staleness can be a problem when you tell yourself, “I’m going to start running around the block, M-F for 30 minutes a day.” If you don’t get bored while exercising, more power to you.

For those of us who feel the staleness of exercising, here are a couple tips on how to beat boredom while exercising:

• Cross Training- Don’t do the same exercise everyday. Try to mix it up by running, swimming, biking, skating, or playing a sport. Alternating activities will help your body to not get used to one activity, which also helps to lower the risk of injury from overuse.
• Destination- Choose a destination to run an errand, or change your destination from your typical.
• Set Goals- Setting different small goals to work on every week or everyday.
• MP3 Players- Listening to music or an audio book (for your slower runs so you can concentrate).
• Friends- You can keep each other motivated while exercising and before exercising.
• Different Routes- Change the places where you exercise by taking different routes.
• Change Distance and Intensity- For example, run slower and farther one day and faster and shorter another day; or you could change distance and intensity in the same day by switching off between running fast for a short distance and then walking or jogging slow.
• Add Weights- You could keep things interesting by running with weights every once and awhile.
• Try New Things- Be open to different types of exercising like Yoga, Pilates, dance aerobics, water aerobics, etc.

Keep exercise exciting and remember to have fun. Stay motivated, mix it up, and keep it up!

Exercise – The ‘Smart Pill’

I have been reading a book called Spark, written by John J. Ratey. This book has opened my eyes to how physical activity and education are not separate but connected.

Aerobic exercise brings many benefits to not just the body but the mind as well.

Exercise promotes a perfect learning environment in the brain. It encourages nerve cells to bind together, new neurons to grow, and older neurons to survive. These developments are the basis for logging new info into the brain and retaining old info.

For the brain, exercise…
- improves attention, motivation, and alertness
- decreases stress
- improves memory
- increases brain activity for learning and complex thinking
- increases number of brain cells
- decreases anxiety

Ratey explains by saying, “Exercise can be used as a medicine -- a ‘smart pill,’ if you will.”

Next time you have a test in school or a project at work; don’t eat junk food to help you get through this demanding time – Exercise!

“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.” - Plato

No Time to Exercise?

Making time for exercise can be difficult. However, there is no need to "make time" for walking because it's just a part of the day.

Walking can be increased in your day by doing things like taking the stairs rather than the elevator, parking farther away, or walking rather than driving to nearby destinations. You can always try to walk more.

Walking has many benefits. Walking helps the body:

• Build strong bones... which protects against Osteoporosis
• Lower high blood pressure
• Control joint pain and swelling
• Handle stress
• Have more energy
• Sleep better at night
• Control weight by spending more calories

Now that you know the benefits, you don't have to be discouraged if you are "just walking." Try for at least 20-30 min. most days of the week. Physical activity is a key component to a healthy lifestyle... so keep it up.

You ROCK if you WALK.

Toning Up Without Bulking Up

To Bulk up: lift heavier weights and less repetitions

To Tone up: lift lighter weights and more repetitions

A common myth says if you lift weights for a certain part of your body you will lose weight in that spot. This is called spot reducing fat and it is not possible.

When you lose weight, you lose it all over. Some people lose weight more in certain spots than others, but you have no control over where you lose your weight. If your goal is to lose weight as well as tone up, you need to have your output exceed your input (this is called a negative energy balance).

Output = aerobic or cardio exercise, burning calories
Input = eating, giving your body fuel

The best way to lose weight and tone up is to do aerobic or cardio workouts along with lifting lighter weights with more repetitions. This will help to reduce fat throughout the body and tone up the muscles.

Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps are a common problem. People who have experienced a muscle cramp after exercise, at night, or randomly during the day could all agree it is reasonably painful. The most common places for muscle cramps are in the arch of the foot, the thigh, and the calf.

HOW TO PREVENT
One reason for muscle cramps is a lack of magnesium and calcium. For more magnesium you could eat dark green vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. For more calcium you could eat dairy products, broccoli, legumes, and spinach. During pregnancy it is normal to have low magnesium and calcium, so pregnant women might need to take supplements to help with their muscle cramps.

A lack of potassium has also been seen as a contributor to muscle cramps. So make sure to eat those bananas.

Another reason for muscle cramps is dehydration. Refer to the post below about staying hydrated. Also, drinks with electrolytes such as sports drinks may help to prevent muscle cramps during physical activity.

Stretching is a great way to prevent muscle cramps. A good warm-up and warm-down during physical activity will help prevent over-exertion muscle cramps. If you get them at night, then stretch before you go to bed.

One reason for night cramps might be the position of the foot. Heavy blankets can push down on your foot at night making the foot in the pointed position. This cramps up the foot and the calf.

HOW TO TREAT
There are three ways how to treat a muscle cramp:

1. Stretch the muscle immediately until the muscle has relaxed.
2. Gently massage the muscle or put some heat on the muscle to help it relax.

3. An acupressure technique is to pinch really hard on the upper lip right below the nose.

Prevention is The Key

Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In old China, doctors used to get paid for keeping their patients well. If one of their patients got sick, the doctors had to treat them without getting paid. That is some health program! It’s crazy how health is viewed so differently now.

In our world today, prevention isn’t in the spot light. We get so focused on curing things that we forget about prevention. The book, “Staying Healthy with the Seasons” talks about the five building blocks to preventative medicine.

1. Nutrition- A natural balanced diet that avoids excess of any kind.

2. Exercise- It’s not just having an exercise program; it’s exercise being a part of your lifestyle. This includes strengthening, aerobic exercise, and stretching.

3. Sleep- Get a good amount of sleep each night. This is your body’s time to recharge for the next day.

4. Stress Management- Learning how to balance your life with work and play. Part of stress management is also learning how to relax. Find activities that you enjoy and make them a part of your life.

5. Attitude- Treat yourself and others around you well. Attitude determines how well the first four steps will be lived.

Preventative medicine helps the body to not reach the state of “dis-ease” or disease. The way to really prevent this state of “dis-ease” is to always be aware of how your body is feeling. If you take time to listen to your body, you will learn more about how to take care of yourself. Prevention is the key to having a healthy lifestyle. Stop and Listen.

Elson M. Haas, Staying Healthy with the Seasons. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 2003.

How to Add Strength Training into a Busy Schedule

The importance of strength training has been explained in the previous post. Now the question is – how do you add strength training to your busy week?

To build your muscles and become well-toned, you need to “strength train” 2-3 times a week. To maintain your strength gains, research says to overload your muscles or perform maximum contractions every 14 days.

When I do my strength training for the week, it takes about 10 minutes to go through 6 exercises. The optimal program for strength training is to do 3 sets of a specific exercise and to rest no more than 90 seconds between sets. During the rest time, you do another exercise for a different muscle group. This is the best way to save time. Choose a weight that allows you to strenuously do about 10-15 repetitions.

Try to strengthen a large muscle group from each major area of the body: arms, legs, back, and abs. There are many different exercises for each muscle group. You can choose to either buy some weights or to do body resistance exercises (such as push-ups and sit-ups).

To get the best outcomes remember not to rush your repetitions. Keep your resistance slow and sustained. Another good reminder is to breathe while you are exercising. It sounds funny, but a lot of people do forget to breathe when they are concentrating. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is to always have your mouth open while doing your exercises.

Now the trick is to find the time. Try to make room for at least 10 minutes in your day 2-3 times a week. If you can’t find at least 10 minutes, you can try to find 3-5 minutes to alternate between two exercises. Do your best and enjoy taking care of your body.

The Importance of Strength Training

After the age of 25 our muscles begin to atrophy (loss of muscle cells) at a faster rate. Research tells us that after the age of 25 a person may lose up to one-half pound of muscle tissue every year. This cycle of losing muscle tissue every year can be broken with a regular strength training program.

Strength training is not just for people that want to become stronger. Strength training (an anaerobic exercise) is just as important as running or any other aerobic exercise.

As we lose muscle our resting metabolic rate RMR (the amount of energy that is used while resting) lowers. This makes the body burn less calories at rest. The reason our RMR lowers is because it takes less energy for the body to care for fat than muscle.

If we build our muscles, the body will use more energy at rest; therefore, burning more calories at rest. One pound of muscle tissue requires three times the amount of energy as one pound of fat tissue. Here’s how it works:
-Gaining 3 pounds of muscle will make the body burn an extra 40kcals a day.
-So gaining 3 pounds of muscle will burn about four pounds of fat a year.

Strength training also has many health benefits just like aerobic exercise. In a research study titled, “Does Strength Training Improve Health Status?”, strength training was found to have some health benefits other than just getting stronger. Strength training improves a person’s body composition, glucose metabolism, bone mineral density, and gastrointestinal transit time. By improving these components of health a person decreases their risk for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and possibly colon cancer.

(Ben Hurley, PhD. “Does Strength Training Improve Health Status?” National Strength & Conditioning Association, June 1994.)

Strength training does not replace aerobic exercise. Increasing or maintaining your strength should be a part of your physical activity during the week.

Low Impact Exercising

Low impact exercising is ideal for people who are injured, older, pregnant, or just beginning to exercise. Low impact refers to exercises that put less stress on the joints and bones.

Some low impact exercises that are offered as classes are yoga, pilates, cycling, and water aerobics. These are all very helpful because they increase your flexibility, strength and aerobic capacity without putting too much stress on your joints and bones. Classes are a helpful way to maintain constant exercise. The times are set and you can make friends in the class to help encourage each other as you exercise.

If you prefer to exercise on your own, then you can do low impact exercises such as swimming, bicycling, walking, or weight training. Swimming will give you the lowest impact or lowest amount of stress on your joints and bones. Weight training can help increase your joint, bone, and muscle strength. For low impact weight training you would use less weight and more reps.

Exercising should be enjoyable. For example, if you chose walking as your low impact exercise, then do something you love while walking – like maybe taking pictures.

Exercising should make you feel good and energized. So make sure to listen to your body and go at your own pace.