Exercise is vital for our bodies. We were created to work and Labor for our food and other personal needs. We’re weaker than our forefathers in our bodies, not just because of our diets but also because of our sedentary lifestyles. Today most of us have a standard desk job. We get up in the morning, go to work, sit at a desk for hours, and then go home. We push a cart around a grocery store, collecting packaged food and paying with the money we earn by sitting at our desk.
Ironically, many people don’t hear from their doctors about the importance of exercise until they land in the hospital and are told to get up and move around as soon as possible. In times past, when people were put into the hospital, they were confined to bed. Now, doctors know that without movement, muscles will become weak, circulation will be sluggish, and recovery will be much slower. Even women who have babies by caesarian section are encouraged to get up the day of surgery to walk around. Of course, getting them out of the hospital earlier has been necessitated by the insurance companies, but they are correct in their thinking that the sooner people get moving after surgery, the quicker they’ll recover, and they’ll experience fewer lasting effects of the surgery.
Our bodies don’t function very well without exercise. Let’s look at some of the things that can happen to us without regular exercise:
*Tissue cells lose their elasticity.
• Lymph nodes cannot release all their toxins—the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the heart; it uses the body’s movements to help circulate its fluids.
• Muscles atrophy.
• The heart can also lose its strength, causing heart disease and other cardiovascular problems.
• Hip muscles and joints, through lack of activity, can become fragile and more prone to breakage.
• Bones can lose density from lack of rebuilding which is stimulated by exercise; osteoporosis is the result.
Aside from preventing these conditions, exercise can aid your body in many other ways. It can improve your intake of oxygen, which provides a burst of energy and increases your stamina; it helps the body produce new cells; it encourages better circulation; and it prevents many diseases.
Your heart will greatly benefit from exercise. It is a muscle you can exercise just like the rest of the body. When it rests, it requires less work to pump all the blood around your circulatory system. Also, exercise will increase your HDL (the good cholesterol) and lower your overall cholesterol.
Obviously, exercise can aid in weight loss and prevent weight gain. Obesity is a simple math problem—we take in more calories than we burn, and thus we gain weight. Once we burn more calories than we’re taking in, we lose weight and regulate our metabolism. While you may lose fat, you may still weigh the same as you tone your muscles, and they increase in mass and density. The way your clothes fit is a better indicator than a scale when measuring your weight loss.
You should incorporate three types of exercise into your regimen, all of which will improve blood and lymph circulation.
Cardiovascular exercise. It strengthens your heart, clears and expands your lungs, builds your stamina, and pours oxygen into every cell of your body. Cardiovascular exercise can be as easy as jumping on a trampoline for a few minutes or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It could be taking a brisk, vigorous walk outside. You should also try swimming and running on a treadmill. Working your heart and lungs is very simple to do
Flexibility routines. These will increase your range of motion, while cleansing and improving the function of your joints. When your tendons become stiff and sore from lack of full-range motion, ordinary movement can become very painful. Stretching and flexibility exercises can help eliminate this stiffness and provide better range of movement.
Stretching will also free up congestion in tissues and release toxins much more than cardiovascular or strength exercise can, so be sure to drink clean water or fresh juice before and after stretching to support elimination of these toxins. You don’t want them simply relocating to some other tissues!
Strength training. This will increase your muscle mass and bone density and help prevent osteoporosis. Strength training doesn’t have to be about bench-pressing twice your weight. It’s mainly about building healthy, firm muscle tone and keeping it.
However, the more muscle you build (up to a point), the more calories you burn even at rest and the stronger you’ll feel.
You can start out by buying some light dumbbells and using them daily. You can even use your own body weight by doing push-ups or sit-ups. Consistency is more valuable than pushing to do more. Your strength will grow according to the regularity of your strength training, and your body will tell you when it’s ready to reach for more strength.
Most people who don’t exercise say they don’t have enough time to do it. However, there are many ways to fit it into your schedule
• Fill in five-minute dead times throughout your day by grabbing a few moments of stretching or cardiovascular exercise. A few minutes here and there will really add up.
• Getting up early in the morning is another option. I travel and speak extensively so I get up early to fit enough exercise into my day.
• Work out with a buddy if you both need some motivation. This is a great time to catch up with a friend and get that much needed workout time into your daily schedule.
• Do “alternative” exercising! That’s where you start to do your normal routine, but then you decide to do the alternative…..park in the back of the parking lot instead of close to the building so you have to walk a little more; take the stairs instead of the elevator; carry your own groceries to the car instead of having a grocery clerk do it; get up and walk across the house to get something you need instead of hollering at your kids to do it. Every little bit of exercise adds up, so always choose the alternative to the sedentary lifestyle.
Whatever you do to start an exercise routine, just don’t think of it as a time expense; think of it as an investment that will pay dividends of increased efficiency, vitality and alertness. You’ll be amazed at how investing a little time in building your health will make your remaining time more profitable. But the big pay off, friends, is that you’ll feel better and live longer!