Exercising almost every day is the single most important thing you can do for your health and spirit. Exercise in the short term helps to control your appetite, improve your state of mind, and improve the quality of your sleep. The long term benefits are decreased risk of heart disease. Exercise also lessen the chances of developing diabetes or dementia. Lastly, exercise has been shown to greatly mitigate the role of depression.
Some of the best ways to exercise are actually the easiest, such as: walking, riding a bicycle, or swimming. A lot of people think working out or exercising takes too long, but you can start to see results just from 30 minutes of walking a day.
Obviously having a Whole Foods diet with little sugar and limited alcohol will improve your exercise and results so making sure you’re putting good things into your body is very important.
What are Some Easy Ways to See Quick Results?
Some of the best things we can do if we choose to exercise is to compliment it with a healthy diet. So many foods these days are loaded with ingredients and preservatives so starting to eliminate processed foods is key to success.
Meats, fruits, and vegetables are always king. Lean meats like chicken, turkey, and beef are great for starters. After you begin adding wholesome foods to your diet, you can start to eliminate others like sugars, seed oils, and unneeded carbohydrates.
One of the best analogies for good food and nutrition is giving your body premium fuel like you would if you had a high-end sports car. Do you want your body to run like a 2008 minivan or a brand-new sports car? Using premium ingredients is like using premium fuel. You will never break down, fluids will stay good, and your engine will run smoothly and efficiently.
What Exercises are Good for Your Heart?
The best types of exercises are always going to be aerobic and strength training. This is the best way to strengthen your whole body and improve overall long term health. If your main goal is to improve “heart” health, then you should focus on cardiovascular exercises that make your heart, and lungs work harder thus increasing oxygen to your cells.
Strength training does have many cardiovascular benefits; cardio workouts are king when it comes to reducing blood pressure and strengthening and cleaning your arteries. Exercise, specifically strength training, releases enzymes that help dissolve any blood clots that may be forming. The increased blood flow also causes the formation of new arteries in your cardiovascular system.
While you exercise, you are making your body expend sugar in your blood. This means your cells remain insulin sensitive long after your exercise has ended, also known as glucose metabolism. This is key to fighting obesity and diabetes. This is the main goal for older people who may not have the same athleticism as a younger person.
You don’t have to be a cross-fit maniac, powerlifter, or cross-country runner to do these simple aerobic and cardiovascular exercises. Take it easy, don’t get ahead of yourself, and don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t seeing results right away. But the instant benefit is how you feel not how you look.
If you want to be healthy and improve your cardiovascular health, just get up and walk. Keep your body moving and heart pumping, and make your lungs work harder.
