Posts Tagged ‘Exercise’

Follow Your Heart…Rate

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Why don’t more Americans exercise when the benefits are so great?

When I ask my patients this question, a frequent response is “Not enough time.” Many of us think that, in order to get fit and lose weight, we need to burn lots of calories while we exercise and therefore spend a great deal of time doing it. This is a myth! You can accomplish a great cardiovascular workout in as little as 20 minutes, 3 times per week – and continue to burn calories long after you’ve finished your exercise routine.

The type of cardio workout that will accomplish this is called high intensity interval training, also known as a HIIT workout. In essence, you work out for a shorter time with brief bouts of high effort intensity, compared to working out for a longer time with a low level of intensity. A great example of interval training is “wind sprints” which involve jogging punctuated by intermittent sprinting.

Here is how it’s done…

Before getting started, you need to know your maximum heart rate (from here on abbreviated MHR). This is the rate your heart should NEVER exceed in beats per minute. You find this by subtracting your age from 220. For example, I’m 40 and therefore I should have a MHR of 180 beats per minute.

During a twenty minute cardio workout on a Stairmaster™, I will get to 80-90% of my maximum heart rate at least 3 times during the twenty minute interval. In minute one, I’ll start with my heart rate at 50% of MHR. It goes to 60% in minute two, 70% in minute three, and so on. I’ll work up to 90% of my MHR, and then I’ll go back down to 50% during the next minute. You get your heart rate up by either increasing speed or resistance.

It’s best to have a heart rate monitor to interval train. It is a strap worn around the chest with a wrist watch that displays your heart rate. They cost about $75 and are available at most sporting good stores. In fact, all patients in our 8 Weeks to Wellness program are required to have their heart rate measured this way.

I, for one, want to maximize my time while exercising. If you could accomplish in 20 minutes, what others take 60 minutes to do, wouldn’t you choose do so?

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Become the Best Version of Yourself

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I recently read a book by Matthew Kelly, The Rhythm of Life. In it he states that when making decisions in life, especially important ones, the number one question to ask is:

“Will this make me a better version of myself?“

I love that! Another book by Jim Collins describes it slightly differently. He states you want to make decisions that will take you from being “good” to being “great.” Life is short and I’ve decided that I want to be GREAT at the things that I’m most passionate about in life and I also want to become the best version of myself.

Here is my list of what I try to do to achieve that goal:

  1. Can’t find time to exercise? Wake up earlier and do 20 minutes of a cardiovascular activity that gets your heart rate up. The only rule is that you have to be sweating by the end of the twenty minutes.
  2. Take two hours every Sunday (or best day for you) and plan your meals for the week; cut up fruits and vegetables; cook meats; get the crockpot going with some chicken and vegetable soup; anything you can do so you don’t say to yourself on the way home from work – mmmmmmmm, I wonder what I should pick up for dinner?
  3. Live within 70% of your income each month; take the remaining 30% and divide into 3; give 10% to charities of your choice (it truly is more blessed to give); put 10% in your savings account; put 10% toward debt reduction; if you can’t do this you are living above your means.
  4. Shut off the TV for good; there can be no better way of freeing up time and reducing stressful feelings that comes from watching stressful TV events.
  5. Write down EXACTLY what it is that you want from life in detail; write down personal and professional goals; read those goals aloud each and every day and visualize yourself achieving those goals.
  6. Try to bless at least one person each and every day; doesn’t have to be a big deal – smile at someone, complement them, listen to people’s needs and try to respond when possible.
  7. Eliminate ALL high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils from your diet; by doing this you’ll easily eliminate 50% of all bad foods on the market.
  8. Eat in MORE often; we eat too much; and we really eat too much when we go out to restaurants; eat out one to two times per week (and that includes lunch and dinner); open up those cookbooks buried in your cabinets and start experimenting.

So tell me, what are you going to do to become the best version of yourself?

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Are You Healthy? Take Our Quiz to Find Out

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Statistics covering health and wellness in America are shocking. The CDC states that over 60% of adults in the U.S. are overweight and over 25% or 1 in 4 is obese. The CDC also gives an equally alarming statistic on the growing trend that 40% of adults in America never engage in any type of physical activity.

Could you be taking better care of your mind and body? By answering YES or NO to following 10 questions, you’ll be able to tell just how healthy you are.

  1. Do you exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes making sure to get your heart rate elevated? (In other words – you are sweating!!)
  2. Do you know your know your health “numbers” – BMI, blood pressure, blood sugar, body fat percentage, waist to hip ratio and cholesterol, and are they within normal range? (Remember your ratios – Cholesterol/HDL is ideally less than 3.0; Triglyceride/HDL ratio is ideally less than 2.0. Waist to hip ratio for a woman should be less than 0.80 and for a man should be less than 0.95.)
  3. Are you a non-smoker?
  4. Do you adapt well to stress in your life, staying calm and relaxed during most of life’s ups and downs, and do you practice mental relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, massage, listening to calming music, prayer etc.?
  5. Do you understand the benefits of nutritional concepts such as: what, when and how often to eat and proper vitamin/mineral supplementation, and do you take a high quality multi-vitamin supplement daily?
  6. Do you avoid whenever possible “fast foods” and foods made with trans fats, saturated fats and highly-processed carbohydrates, such as high fructose corn syrup?
  7. Do you understand the importance of adding lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish, and whole grains to your daily diet and do you get at least 25 grams of fiber from these foods daily?
  8. Do you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day?
  9. Are you satisfied with how you look and feel and are not overly critical of yourself?
  10. Do you keep your mind active and place a high priority on good relationships with friends and family?

The more you answered YES to the above questions – the healthier you are. If you had lots of NOs, perhaps today is the day to get started taking some real steps to better health.

Did you notice there was no question regarding your genetics and whether “this or that” runs in your family? The reason is that I want you to focus on things that you can actually DO something about. What you eat, how you exercise, and how you think are all things that you CAN actually control.

Although it may seem foreign to you, health is indeed a choice. Health is not merely determined by the genetics our parents give us, which is actually just a very small percentage of what determines our overall health. So take some responsibility and CHOOSE to be healthy. And then of course take the right actions steps to make that a reality in your life.

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