Even the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “Increasing physical activity directly contributes to improved mental health and better overall health and well-being”.
One of my favorite progressive medical doctors, whose focus is on health longevity says this: Exercise might be the most potent “drug” we have for extending the quality and perhaps quantity of our years of life.
Our modern world offers many conveniences that many of us cannot imagine living without. Those advantages often come with a significant cost. The impact of inactivity, prolonged sitting, poor posture, poor sleep, and convenient food takes its toll on our health.
I’ve written elsewhere about how chiropractic care can help correct the imbalances in the nervous system that result from the “stress of life”. It bears repeating that stress is the common denominator in the development of 90% of human disease.
The combination of chiropractic care and a well structured exercise program is more powerful than any other approach to improving health. I used to place diet above exercise but the research shows that a properly implemented exercise program has greater benefit than diet or even the cessation of smoking.
The Impact of Exercise can be Positive or Destructive
There are plenty of people who make the assumption that exercise is good and don’t give much consideration to how to properly structure a program to offer the greatest long term benefits. Some slog away on a treadmill or elliptical for hours on end. Others limit their exercise to weight training.
Far too many people either hurt themselves or fail to gain the optimum benefits from exercise so let’s explore how you might integrate exercise to not only improve your fitness but also improve your health.
The Power of Movement
Take a look at the human body. We have over 600 muscles in the human body. Those muscles cross the 360 joints of the body. The function of joints is to allow movement and the purpose of muscles is to produce that movement.
The human body is designed for movement. Everything of value in life is related to motion and movement. However, we have created a modern life in which we move less and less. Our life might be easier but it is certainly more and more sedentary.
If you do not use your body as it was intended the consequence is that you start to lose that function. Hence the old adage “Use it or lose it!”. If you’re going to exercise, and you should, then why not get the greatest benefit from your exercise.
The 3 Critical Keys to Improving Health with Exercise
Exercise is a healthy stressor that if applied properly and judiciously will improve how your body works and result in many positive side benefits like:
- Better sleep
- Less tension and pain
- More energy
- Stronger bones
- Better balance
- Improved emotions
- Less depression
- Lowered blood pressure
Here are the 3 critical keys to creating an exercise routine that will have the greatest impact not only on your level of fitness but on your health.
Critical Key #1: Posterior Chain Activation with Balance. Our modern life where we sit for extensive time every day has the effect of inhibiting the muscles responsible for us resisting the forces of gravity. You can look around any day and find people who are rapidly losing their battle with gravity. They are bent forward almost like they are falling forward. Their head is in front of their shoulders and their back is a bit rounded.
We’re raising an entire generation that is losing this battle at an early age. All the texting, screen time and gaming is contributing to the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents.
This Critical Key is about activating, engaging, and strengthening the muscles responsible for standing us up straight and moving gracefully and painlessly against the forces of gravity. These muscles are referred to as the Posterior Chain muscles and they run from the bottom of the feet up the back of the legs all the way to the base of the skull.
Activating the posterior chain together along with engaging balance is tremendous in helping you move and put minimal stress on joints and avoid falls.
Critical Key #2: Aerobic and Anaerobic Training. Aerobic refers to burning energy with the use of oxygen and anaerobic is in the absence of or with diminished oxygen. Proper intensity and duration of aerobic exercise will have the effect of strengthening the power and number of your mitochondria. What are mitochondria and why are they important?
Simply put your mitochondria are the energy plants in your cells. This is where you burn fuel and generate energy. Most chronic degenerative diseases are associated with declining numbers and vitality of mitochondria.
Aerobic exercise that helps improve mitochondrial health is a properly paced aerobic exercise. This needs to be a steady pace for an extended time. This makes a stationary bike, elliptical machine, or rowing machine ideal. The easiest way to gauge this is your ability to carry on a conversation. The intensity of this exercise should allow you to carry on a conversation that is slightly labored. Your heart rate should be approximately 180 minus your age. And, you should be able to keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose during this exercise.
Shoot for an ideal of at least 2 hours per week with a target of 3 to 4 hours in minimum of 30 to 45 minute sessions. If you are going to do anaerobic training or weight training do the aerobic exercise first.
Anaerobic exercise is the intense exercise of short bursts that leave you gasping for air. This would be anywhere from 15 second to 1 minute sprints on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical or sprints running on the ground. Take enough time to recover between sprints and repeat 5 to 10 times. This need only be done every 3 to 4 days.
Critical Key #3: Strength Training. Strength is so very important as we age and it becomes progressively more difficult to get stronger as you age. I don’t know of anyone who ever complained of being too strong but far too many suffer the consequence of insufficient strength.
One fear I often hear is from women who don’t want to bulk up. Do not worry! You would have to commit to an extremely rigorous training program to have the possibility of adding bulk. What you will do is improve the tone of your muscles which will improve how you look.
Here are some guidelines to an effective strength training program:
- Work the large muscles of your body as a priority. These are the muscles of your legs, hips, and back.
- Free weights, machines, and body weight exercises will all work. In the beginning body weight exercises and machines will reduce the chance of injury. Free weights challenge your joints in positive ways so work towards that.
- Focus on compound movements. These are exercises that make multiple joints move. Sitting and doing a leg extension only moves the knees but doing a squat moves the ankles, knees, and hips.
- Do repetitions of the exercise so that you are within 3 repetitions of failure or not being able to do another. Too many people fail to benefit from weight training by making it too easy.
- Do anywhere from 3 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 repetitions. This will depend on the weight you use. The lighter the weight the more repetitions and likely more set.
Those are the 3 critical keys to utilizing exercise to have the greatest positive benefit on your health. Exercise like anything that contributes to your health must be done regularly. Commit to a minimum of 3 sessions a week.
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