Healthy Habits: Why 30 minutes of exercise?

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Why 30 minutes of exercise?

We all have had it pounded in our heads that exercise is good for us. But do you know just how good? In addition to strong muscles and an efficient heart, it helps us fight off disease, stimulates the brain and helps us live longer. Here's what the Mayo Clinic says:

7 Reasons to Exercise:

No. 1: Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. You don't need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits.

No. 2: Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? In fact, regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, certain types of cancer, arthritis and falls.

No. 3: Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed.

No. 4: Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

No. 5: Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to fall asleep? Or to stay asleep? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. Just don't exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to fall asleep.

No. 6: Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can leave you feeling energized and looking better, which may have a positive effect on your sex life.

No. 7: Exercise can be fun

Exercise and physical activity can be a fun way to spend some time. It gives you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.

The bottom line on exercise

Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, gain health benefits and have fun. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

(Excerpts from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676)

1 comment:

KateSeptember 16, 2018 at 11:18 AM
Totally agree with you that exercising can be very enjoyable and fun! With the right psychological approach one can learn to see exercising as an endorphin booster, a stress buster and a way to make the body feel great :) Agatha Singer has got a great article about healthy habits, click here to investigate. It's really worth reading! Very inspiring piece of content!
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The rules:

8 points possible each day
50 points = a complete week
(6 freebies each week)
$10 to enter

1. 30min of exercise daily
Whatever counts as exercise to you. Walking, running, yoga, weights, pushups, etc. You may combine these points: if you get an hour of cardio in, you can count that for two days. Sundays are an automatic free day for exercise, but you get the point anyway. So as long as you get 3 hours of workout in each week, you are good!

2. 4 servings of fruits/veggies daily
At least one fruit or one veggie must be in this combo, meaning you can't eat all fruit. You may count one of your servings from a liquid form daily.

3. 50 oz of water daily
Water is water. Milk, sports drinks, and juice are all great drinks, but are not water, therefore they do not count for the 50 oz. Something that helps is to try and drink 10 oz. of water when you brush your teeth in the morning and at night. Then shoot for drinking a 32oz water bottle during the day. Find something that will work for you!

4. No sweets/soda
This includes cookies, cakes, candies, etc. But ultimately, this is AT YOUR DESCRETION! Your main goal in participating in this challenge should first and foremost be for your own health! You decide about grey areas like fruit salads with cool whip and things like that. Don't stress about what has sugar in it if it is healthy for you. If it has no nutritional purpose, don't eat it.

5. No eating after 8 PM nightly
You need to stop eating at 8:00 PM. You MAY have something to drink, but avoid heavy drinks such as smoothies since it is basically food blended down.

6. Brush and floss teeth
Brush your teeth twice a day and floss once. Did you know that after quitting smoking and exercising, the next best thing to increase your life span is to floss your teeth?

7. 7 hours of sleep
Now, this is based on your "intent to sleep." If you go to lay down at 10 pm and a baby/neighbor/dog wakes you up, you can still count it. You just need to make sure that you were really going to bed - no tv, computer, iPod, etc. You may add in a nap if you need to make up 30 min or an hour that you may have missed or you think you will miss.

8. Personal point
What do you wish you were doing better at? Is it reading your scriptures? Getting up early? Writing in your journal? Reading a good book? Practicing a hobby?

HOW IT ALL WORKS

Now you will notice that 56 points are possible, but you can have a complete week with just 50 points. You have 6 freebies to use however you wish. THE GOAL IS TO GET 50 POINTS EVERY WEEK. The freebies help you to not go crazy by feeling deprived, or if you forget to do something. The first few weeks, I suggest you leave a few freebies for the end of the week in case you forget something one day. You can spread the freebies around or use them all in one day, it's up to you. Points cannot carry over week to week.

It costs $10 to enter and runs 8 weeks. $5 is for the pot at the end, and $5 for weekly prizes. Whoever has full points at the end will split the money in the pot. So if you make it all eight weeks with 50 points, you are guaranteed to get at least your $5 back, if not more. But if you mess up a week, don't despair! Every week, I will hold a drawing for people who had full points that week and give out $5 to one person. Extra money goes in the pot for the end. The person with the most points also will get a prize. If you don't use your freebies, you count those points (you could get 52 points in one week, for example).

Report your points on the spreadsheet link (upper left) by Monday night. Find your name and put your points in the box next to your name under the correct week. Tuesday morning I will put names in a hat to draw for the weekly prize. (If your points are not in by Tues morning, you will not be in for a drawing.) You should know by Sunday night what your points are, so that gives you Sunday through Monday night to report. I'll try to send out an email reminder. The spreadsheet is a work in progress - so be patient as things change to work best. If you don't see your name, or if something else looks wrong let me know.

Find a happy balance. Be happy with who you are and what you've got and enjoy feeling good along the way with these goals....then keep setting them and keep working toward achieving them!