Walk your way to a healthier you

Walking is one of the best all-round forms of exercise we can have, it is a way of keeping fit and losing weight that doesn’t cost anything but the rewards we can reap from it are endless. To lose weight we must burn off more calories than we eat and walking is one form of exercise that can help us to do this.

As a general guide a person weighing 60kg would burn off 150 calories if they were to walk at a brisk pace for a half hour. A heavier person would burn off more calories per half hour and a lighter one less calories.

Walking has been known to reduce stress and anxiety and to bring about a feeling of well being leaving the person more relaxed, it also gives us more energy though at first if you have been inactive for any length of time you may feel a little tired at but this will soon wear off after your body has got used to your new routine.

Any physical exercise is proven to help greatly with people who suffer from sleep problems and a gentle stroll before going to bed will help you relax as well as burn off some of the calories you had at your evening meal.

Walking has also been proven as excellent therapy for people suffering from back pain and also helps in relieving problems with the joints.

As well as helping you lose weight now and become fitter and healthier walking can help to prevent a wide range of problems occurring from carrying too much weight around in the future. Evidence has shown that walking can help with

• Lowering high blood pressure
• Help burn off body fat
• Promote healthy blood sugar levels
• Give a boost to the immune system
• Improve depression and anxiety

Cycling for your health

Cycling has been proven to be an excellent form of aerobic exercise for those wanting to shed a few pounds, cycling burns off roughly 300 calories per hour if you cycle at a moderate pace.

There are many indirect benefits to be gained from cycling; cycling can help to improve co-ordination, which is of particular help to older people as this gives better balance and reduces the risk of falls which could result in fractures.

Cycling is an excellent form of exercise for building up strength particularly in the legs and improving your cardiovascular system which helps people suffering from asthma.

Recent studies carried out showed that even the smallest amount of cycling can bring significant gains to fitness levels, the study showed that after just 6 weeks of cycling only short distances for 4 times a week aerobic fitness levels were raised by 11%.

Results also showed that people who started to cycle after never doing much exercise before moved from the third of the population who were the least fit to the fittest half of the population in just a few short weeks.

All exercise is good for you and if done on a regular basis of at least 4 out of 7 days will lead to a healthier you, but exercise comes in many different forms from the simple everyday exercise we all get such as just walking, to more vigorous fitness routines such as an aerobics workout.

All forms of exercise use muscles and using our muscles on a regular basis can increase muscle size, strength and endurance, but not every form of exercise will have the same effect.

Exercises for endurance Forms of endurance exercising are cycling and running, exercises such as these build up and strengthen muscles; this type of exercise has several beneficial effects on our body such as:

• Increasing the amount of oxygen you take with each breath by increasing the capacity of the lungs.
• Enlarging the heart which enables it to pump blood more quickly around the body.
• Strengthens your skeleton.
• Helps with digestion.
• Improves your metabolism making it more efficient.
• Helps with improvements to the co-ordination.

This type of exercise suits someone who wants to improve overall health and strengthen and tone muscles, it is also good for the cardiovascular system but however if your aim in your fitness and exercise regime is to increase the muscles size then this type of exercise is not the best. For increasing the size of muscles resistance training is perhaps the best option.

Resistance training or Bodybuilding

Your muscle size will increase with a fitness plan based on resistance training; most resistance training involves using your muscles to lift heavy loads, which is known as bodybuilding.

Lifting weights of heavy loads forces the muscles to contract, training on regular occasions with weights will then cause your muscles cells to enlarge and as a result your muscles get bigger.

There are some forms of exercise which makes use of both resistance and endurance training, swimming for example is an endurance exercise as you have to push against the water to move and pushing against the water also causes resistance.

If your fitness routine is particularly intense then other parts of your body will begin to help your muscles, for example your heart will begin to beat quicker so that it can provide your muscles with more blood, and this in turn gives them more oxygen and valuable nutrients.

Once you have your muscles toned up with regular exercise and continue with your regime then your muscles will remain toned for they will be in a constant state of partial contraction which keeps them healthy and firm.

How many muscles does a body have?

We have around 650 different muscles within our body and these are divided into 3 different categories, skeletal muscle, smooth muscle and cardiac muscle.

Skeletal muscle gives us our movement and maintains our posture, it also generates heat and stabilises our joints. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow organs in our body and the cardiac muscle is responsible for your heart.

It doesn’t matter which fitness programme you start on the basics behind them are all the same. Every exercise or fitness programme relies on frequency, intensity and duration as the base and will include sets and repetitions.

Frequency

The frequency of your fitness regime relates to the amount of days you spend on your exercise routine, in order to maintain your current health or to become fitter you should exercise is some form or other at least five days out of the week.

Intensity

The intensity of exercise can be measured in many different ways from the scientific to the more simple; the easiest way for a person to measure the intensity of a workout routine themselves in a gym or at home is to wear a portable heart rate monitor.

The intensity of a workout is usually said to be strenuous, moderate or mild, exactly what defines a mild, moderate or strenuous routine will differ from person to person depending on several factors such as your current level of health and fitness.

For example f you were a gold medallist in the Olympics and you were to run a mile in under 10 minutes then this would be classed as mild exercise, for most of us however this would be considered strenuous exercise or even impossible to do.

For the average person who wants to maintain there weight or who is on a diet and exercise program, then mild to moderate exercise is all that is needed on a daily basis.

Mild or moderate as a general rule will mean for most of us a brisk walk but again it all depends on your current health and the level of your fitness.

Duration

Duration is the actual length of time you need to be active in any one session, whatever your choice of exercise, fitness experts recommend that to remain fit and for exercise to have any benefit on your health then you must exercise roughly for 30 minutes 5 days a week.

This might sound like a lot but remember it is only mild to moderate exercise you are doing and this includes things like taking a walk, it doesn’t have to be an aerobics workout or lifting weights.

If you are only just starting an exercise regime then it is important that you build up the duration, slowly start off with maybe 15 minutes per day and work up to 30 minutes over a few weeks.

Repetitions and Sets

A repetition or rep as it is most commonly referred to is a single lift of a weight or 1 sit up or doing 1 exercise of whatever your chosen fitness plan consists of, a set is a group of those repetitions and as a rough guide when you first start on your fitness plan you will generally start off with a low amount of both reps and sets.

More than likely you will start of with about 5 reps of each exercise and probably 1 set, and then work up slowly with perhaps adding another 5 reps to the set after a week or so.

The total amount of reps and sets will depend on your level of fitness and health and also on the amount of time you have set aside for your exercise routine.

What we eat and the amount of exercise we do all counts towards reducing the risk of heart disease and premature death, heart disease kills more people per year than any other illness so we should do all we can to help keep our heart in good working order.

Heart disease is a term that covers a range of conditions that affect the performance of the heart; the most common of these is ischemic heart disease, this happens when there is insufficient blood supply to the heart which is usually caused by fatty deposits building up in the vessels that supply the blood to the heart.

Consequences of heart disease include angina, heart attack and arrhythmia, which is the irregular rhythm of the heartbeat.

What we can do help keep the heart healthy

Living a healthy lifestyle which consists of eating a proper healthy diet and exercise will help reduce the risk of heart diseases, being active and having a daily exercise routine is the best way to keep the heart healthy.

Lack of physical activity is thought to cause over a third of all deaths from heart disease, it is recommended by health experts that we should have 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 5 days out of 7.

These 30 minutes don’t have to be done all at once; they can be split over the day into smaller more manageable time slots to fit in with even the busiest schedules.

What is moderate exercise?

Moderate physical exercise is any activity that makes you feel warm and slightly out of breath, but bear in mind that this doesn’t mean gasping for breath to the point where you feel uncomfortable or wheezy.

Physical exercise can be going for a work out at the gym, running, aerobics workout or just everyday activities such as walking and even housework.

Exercise not only benefits the heart and reduces the risk of disease but it also will help to keep the cholesterol level low, improve the circulation, help you sleep better and improve you overall general wellbeing.

People of all ages can benefit from exercise as part of the daily routine but if you suffer from any major illness or have breathing difficulties then it is wise to consult your Doctor before taking on any exercise regime. It is also important to remember to gradually build up any routine that you do slowly.

Other ways to a healthier lifestyle and a healthier heart

Stopping smoking – stopping smoking not only reduces the risk of heart disease but also other diseases such as lung cancer, it is never too late to give up and within weeks of giving up you will see improvements in your health.

High blood pressure – having high blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease, but changes to lifestyle can help reduce high blood pressure by reducing the amount of salt in your diet and learning to relax more and reduce stress.

Moderate drinking – in people over the age of 40 not drinking excessively can help reduce the risk of heart diseases. A safe limit for men is drinking no more than 3 units per day and for women 2 units per day.

Eating a healthy diet – eating a range of foods which ensure you receive all the necessary vitamins and minerals can help in the prevention of heart disease and other illnesses, a lot of people could benefit from eating more starchy carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and bread and eat less saturated fat.