The most important thing to remember about moving our bodies for our weight loss success is to have fun! I've been playing in the pool this week and a friend of mine was so excited because she got a workout in by dancing around the house!
What you do is not nearly as important as just doing something. Do something you enjoy. It can be the same thing every day or it can be different.
One of the reasons dancing works so well for weight loss success is that you can vary it so easily! Just change the music and you tend to move differently. So enjoy lots of different songs--long and short.
Get down tonight!
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Monday, December 27, 2010
Weight Loss Success in No Time
Don't have a lot of time to devote to the gym? Well, the good news is you don't have to!
The way to improve your fitness is to move your body regularly, but that doesn't mean you have to sweat it out pumping iron a couple hours a day.
If you are just starting out then start off slow. Don't try to add an hour of exercise to your routine all at once--chances are you won't keep with it. Instead, commit to 15 minutes a day. In the beginning don't worry about working out hard, just get up and move--and have fun with it! The biggest challenge for most people is making the initial change, so make it an easy change to stick with. You will have MUCH better results if you consistently move your body for 15 minutes every day than you will if you exercise for 2 hours once or twice a week.
If you are already exercising but find that you are running short on time, either you don't have more time to add to your workout, or you need to cut back on the time you currently spend moving, then bump it up just a notch for just a few minutes. You can actually get a better cardio workout in by alternating high intensity (faster speed, steeper incline) with lower intensity (slower pace, level terrain.) You can do this walking in your neighborhood or on any number of machines like treadmills or cross-country ski trainers--and even in the pool (well, you can't adjust the incline but you can alternate your speed and you can add fins or hand paddles to work different muscles.) 20 minutes will actually give you a really good work out!
In just 15-20 minutes a day you can actually make a big difference in your health and you will start to see results in your fitness level and your weight loss success! And, as the saying goes, nothing breeds success like success!
The way to improve your fitness is to move your body regularly, but that doesn't mean you have to sweat it out pumping iron a couple hours a day.
If you are just starting out then start off slow. Don't try to add an hour of exercise to your routine all at once--chances are you won't keep with it. Instead, commit to 15 minutes a day. In the beginning don't worry about working out hard, just get up and move--and have fun with it! The biggest challenge for most people is making the initial change, so make it an easy change to stick with. You will have MUCH better results if you consistently move your body for 15 minutes every day than you will if you exercise for 2 hours once or twice a week.
If you are already exercising but find that you are running short on time, either you don't have more time to add to your workout, or you need to cut back on the time you currently spend moving, then bump it up just a notch for just a few minutes. You can actually get a better cardio workout in by alternating high intensity (faster speed, steeper incline) with lower intensity (slower pace, level terrain.) You can do this walking in your neighborhood or on any number of machines like treadmills or cross-country ski trainers--and even in the pool (well, you can't adjust the incline but you can alternate your speed and you can add fins or hand paddles to work different muscles.) 20 minutes will actually give you a really good work out!
In just 15-20 minutes a day you can actually make a big difference in your health and you will start to see results in your fitness level and your weight loss success! And, as the saying goes, nothing breeds success like success!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Olympic Inspirations
Being a former swimmer, I watched the swimming events with my usual fervor, even though I had to scale back my Olympic viewing in other areas. Of course I was blown away by the successes of all the swimmers, including Michael Phelps, but most especially Dara Torres.
One of the things that was impressed upon me was how much the sport has changed from my day (hey, I'm more the Mark Spitz era!) and what I can take away from those changes to apply to my life today. Specifically my own health and fitness routine.
Of course there is no way I am going to spend the hours every day working out that they do. However I can increase the time I spend stretching my body. I watched mesmorized as "Team Torres" massaged, pulled, stretched and munched that body. So I spent an extra few minutes getting a really good stretch in before my morning walk the last few days.
Guess what? It helped this 50 year old get a better walk. I was able to go further, faster with less fatigue!
So if you aren't stretching, or you think a minute will do it, I suggest you stretch twice as long (or longer) and see what that does for you!
One of the things that was impressed upon me was how much the sport has changed from my day (hey, I'm more the Mark Spitz era!) and what I can take away from those changes to apply to my life today. Specifically my own health and fitness routine.
Of course there is no way I am going to spend the hours every day working out that they do. However I can increase the time I spend stretching my body. I watched mesmorized as "Team Torres" massaged, pulled, stretched and munched that body. So I spent an extra few minutes getting a really good stretch in before my morning walk the last few days.
Guess what? It helped this 50 year old get a better walk. I was able to go further, faster with less fatigue!
So if you aren't stretching, or you think a minute will do it, I suggest you stretch twice as long (or longer) and see what that does for you!
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