As we get ready for the Ignite Live Chat (December 4th at 3:00 p.m. ET) on The Culprit & The Cure, Steven Aldana leaves us with some very practical suggestions and key lessons we can use in our daily life regardless of our age or work style habits. How can you be physically fit to enjoy the rest of your life with minimal pain, injury or fear of developing a chronic disease?
You can start today by developing a plan to exercise that is structured and regular to occur almost every day. The beauty of this plan is that you don’t have to run a marathon to enjoy the benefits of exercise. You can start with a small plan that allocates 5 or 10 minutes for a brisk walk. Then structure your day and time over the next week so you repeat the walk 2 to 3 times a day. You can vary the routine from day to day or week to week but keep it up for at least 21 days and then repeat the process again. Ultimately, you make it a habit and part of your life to enjoy daily exercise.
Daily exercise is much better than taking medicine every day for high blood pressure, high cholesterol or for diabetes. The muscles in your body are extremely forgiving and are excellent work out partners. Regardless of how long you sat in a chair or neglected your exercise program, your muscles will re-gain the momentum and provide you the same benefits you enjoyed when you were younger and stronger.
A scientific review by Dr. Dena Bravata at Stanford University last year showed that people who use a pedometer regularly will increase their physical activity by walking at least a mile more than people who don’t wear pedometers. The pedometer users also enjoyed a lower body mass index, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. It is important to set a goal of 10,000 steps per day and use the pedometer to track your progress each week. She also noted that “if 10% of the adults in the U.S. began a regular walking program, an estimated $5.6 billion in heart disease costs would be saved”.
Are you wearing your pedometer today? Have you taken your 5-10 minute walk and are you planning to increase your time to 30 minutes per day total? In the book the pneumonic FIT means Frequency, Intensity, and Time. When you structure your plan to exercise, read about these important metrics and how to achieve the intensity that targets a heart rate between 60% and 80% of your maximum heart rate. Learn how to calculate your maximum heart and how to do the “talk test” to measure your intensity. All of these are key lessons we can learn by reading Chapters 9, 10 and 11 in The Culprit & The Cure.
I’ll be signing off now to go for a quick walk and I’ll see you next time around the block.
Dr. Tony Linares
