How much exercise do we need to do, to…

How much exercise is necessary to reduce or even slow down aging, injury and disease? 

Exercise. Love it or hate it, it is necessary for a healthy lifestyle.

For too long society has been way to focused on exercise being a weight/ fat loss tool instead of a wellness tool. We need to change our mindset and include it into our everyday lives. As a wellness coach for moms, I constantly hear moms complaining about not having enough time to exercise. Here is the thing though, by saying that we do not have time, we are saying it is not important enough. It means we do not prioritize our health and make time for it. 

So why should we be making time for exercise?

Because it will help us delay aging. Who does not want to hold onto that youthful appearance and to age gracefully?

Science Insider says, “people that work out the most have a huge advantage”. “That cells in their bodies are significantly younger.” These scientists studied telomers in 5382 adults. These adults had different activity levels.  What is a telomer? A telomer is basically a protective tip (chromosome structures) on the end of your DNA that protects it from damage. These suffer from wear and tear over the years causing aging. This damage can also make you more susceptible to diseases like cancer. The results of the studies showed that people that did no exercise through to moderate exercise had very similar results, yet the cells of highly active adults were nearly 10 years younger. They categorised highly active adults as ones that do 5-6 hours of walking or biking per week or 2-6 hours of running.

I guess we should be asking if that exercise is more important to you if you could have 10 more years with your family?

According to Newsweek, A study at the German Leipzig University found that running, cycling and swimming slows cellular again the most. They studied 266 inactive volunteers between the ages of 30 and 60 years old. Each of these volunteers were randomly given an exercise regimen. These individuals worked out 3 days a week for 6 months. Both the endurance groups and resistance groups benefited. However, those that were given resistance training like crunches and pullups also had a beneficial effect on inflammation. This helps us to see that we need to incorporate cardio (endurance training) and resistance (strength training) to our exercise regime.

Here are the Facts:

Regular exercise will also reduce lifestyle diseases like non-commutative disease. 

The main culprits of these diseases worldwide are:

• Heart disease.
• Stroke and
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd) 

Why do we get these diseases?

The Main Factors causing these diseases are

1.sedentary lifestyle 

2.poor diet

3.obesity / smoking 

Seeing as a sedentary lifestyle is one of the main reasons holding us back from a long and healthy life, we again ask just how much exercise is necessary? According to the world health organization we should be doing Cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week for about 30 min. During this exercise we should be getting our heart rate up to about 60-85% of our max heart rate. Cardiovascular exercise is important because it allows our heart and lungs to work, adjust and recover. This is vital for healthy functioning of these organs.  “Cardio” as it is often called, is when we work any large muscle group and raise our heart rate for an extended period.

 WHO recommends strength training 2-3 times a week (40 min) and suggests doing stretches after exercise for about 15 min. Alternately a yoga or Pilates session once to twice a week?