Fitness expert Anupa stresses the need to bring in a lot of variety to our workout schedules. Unless a conscious effort is made from your side you would end up losing most of the vital muscles.
This is a fact that most of us would not want to accept - 2 out of 10 people would love to go for a regular aerobic workout, pump iron in the gym, strap our running shoes and give it a go or do some kind of fitness activity regularly. The rest of the people are still wondering what to do?
Well, the reality is that the body requires movement for sure and more so the body likes a lot of variety. So, even if we have set into a routine and are perfect disciplinarians our body would still benefit from change and variety.
This is a fact that most of us would not want to accept - 2 out of 10 people would love to go for a regular aerobic workout, pump iron in the gym, strap our running shoes and give it a go or do some kind of fitness activity regularly. The rest of the people are still wondering what to do?
Well, the reality is that the body requires movement for sure and more so the body likes a lot of variety. So, even if we have set into a routine and are perfect disciplinarians our body would still benefit from change and variety.
- Rote and repetitive movements can get too monotonous and boring, adherence to them becomes difficult.
- When there is no variety in the form of exercise, the chances of calories getting burnt will also become less. Once the mind understands the routine it can tune the body to its pace.
- Sometimes repetition can cause overuse injuries. When the body is forced to do a particular movement repetitively, there is a possibility to wear down some cartilage, sometimes even tear muscles and tendons.
Hence it is necessary to bring in a lot of variety in to our workout schedules. Again, let us try to cater to the class, or the other 80%, who feel the necessity to move but are still pondering over the choice.
- Try to accumulate 30 minutes of activity in the course of the day. This can be split into 3 ten-minute intervals or 2 fifteen-minute intervals or one full chunk of 30 minutes. The idea is to get some movement that will lower your cholesterol levels, boost up the HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol and lower the LDL (low density lipoprotein) that clogs arteries.
- Make sure you enjoy the moderate activity that you are doing. A do-or-die attitude towards exercise may diminish the positive benefits of exercise.
We will primarily focus on developing two aspects of fitness - strength or endurance and flexibility.
A weight-training programme directly results in developing strength. Within a couple of weeks of starting a weight-training programme you can see a visible gain in muscle strength and endurance. Your daily tasks of lifting grocery bags, opening lids and moving heavy objects would become easier. Let's however look at the major advantages:
A weight-training programme directly results in developing strength. Within a couple of weeks of starting a weight-training programme you can see a visible gain in muscle strength and endurance. Your daily tasks of lifting grocery bags, opening lids and moving heavy objects would become easier. Let's however look at the major advantages:
- Fat burning: A consistent weight training routine will see a cumulative effect of an enhanced fat burning capacity. Within 3 months, the body's muscle to fat ratio improves and you would start burning more calories
- Low risk of osteoporosis: A weight-training programme prevents calcium depletion especially for women post menopause.
- Easier movement: The general activity level of people who indulge in this training is very high and they find themselves be able to do more things in the available time.
- Prevents premature aging: Loss of strength is the single most important reason for age-related functional loss, reducing capacity, curtailed activities and even shrinking of the skeleton. If you don't put a muscle to use, you would lose it i.e., the muscle loses its function and this loss occurs at an accelerated rate after 40 years.
Unless a conscious effort is made from our side we would end up losing most of the vital muscles. Especially Indians have a lot of myths built around body-building and all the more women. Ideally as you age a weight training routine will ease the process and you will enjoy it.
Let us now look at the flexibility aspects through stretching. Most of the times stretching exercise looks and feels very painful. The reason being people believe that by over pushing a muscle or a joint a stretch is executed and flexibility maximised. Ideally think of your pet cat or dog at home or any other animal you can remember. They stretch gracefully and sometimes we would even envy them. The stretch executed by them is effortless and the purpose is accomplished. If we know that our body keeps reckoning us to stretch when we maintain monotony the whole day. If we can heed this and stretch accordingly, flexibility is gained. We should not mistake this with clicking of knuckles or other joints.
The accrued benefits of stretching frequently as a part of your routine will find your muscles having lesser tension, less stiffness, better elasticity of the muscles and tendons and reduced risk of injuries.
When executing a stretch keep the following points in mind:
Let us now look at the flexibility aspects through stretching. Most of the times stretching exercise looks and feels very painful. The reason being people believe that by over pushing a muscle or a joint a stretch is executed and flexibility maximised. Ideally think of your pet cat or dog at home or any other animal you can remember. They stretch gracefully and sometimes we would even envy them. The stretch executed by them is effortless and the purpose is accomplished. If we know that our body keeps reckoning us to stretch when we maintain monotony the whole day. If we can heed this and stretch accordingly, flexibility is gained. We should not mistake this with clicking of knuckles or other joints.
The accrued benefits of stretching frequently as a part of your routine will find your muscles having lesser tension, less stiffness, better elasticity of the muscles and tendons and reduced risk of injuries.
When executing a stretch keep the following points in mind:
- Be gentle - a muscle should slowly experience the stretch, only then it lengthens the right way and you can enjoy it.
- Be patient - Do not be in a hurry to execute the stretch. It takes roughly 10 seconds for the muscle to stop contracting, the next 20 seconds in preparing to stretch and only the following 10 seconds to actually lengthen. Give yourself this time and enjoy the stretch.
- Be consistent - Do not stretch once in a week or occasionally when you feel like exercising. Stretch regularly like a cat.
- Warm up - Before executing any stretch ensure your body is warmed up, do not stretch when you are rigid and cold.
So, let's parallelly work on our strength and flexibility.
The author is martial arts practitioner and a personal fitness coach.
The author is martial arts practitioner and a personal fitness coach.
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