Put Spring In Your Fitness

Put Spring In Your Fitness

Good news! Spring is here, officially. The past Saturday was, despite the forecast a lovely day, just right in fact for a lovely bike ride with the family. Weather like that makes you want to be outside, especially after being cooped up indoors for so long.

People take out their running gear, or mount their trusty push bikes and hit the road.

I have noticed quite a  bit of ‘either this or that but not both’ mentality in the fitness media lately. The headlines want to tell you that you have to do less aerobic training and more resistance training, only for the next headline to proclaim that more walking and less running is better. The same is true with nutrition. One day the celebrity chef and his way of living is touted as the answer to all problems, and the next he is vilified because of his way of living. The media is a fickle thing and if you were to live your life by their headlines you will soon be doing nothing at all, because of the confusion that they are creating.

When it comes to exercise I say, ‘Have balance.’

Use the warmer weather to get outside. Each type of exercise whether aerobic or resistance has benefits. I have a friend who in her younger days was a competitive cyclist. She enjoyed the solitude that longer training rides on her own gave her, but also the companionship and memories that her last race with her dad left her with. Now she enjoys the laughter that it brings when she goes out on the road with her family in  tow.

This same friend also loves weight training with a passion. The hour that she has in the gym, all by herself is her therapy, she says. Her time to focus on not much more except her next set, and whether she will be able to increase either the rep range or the weight.

You do not have to have an ‘either this or that but not both’ approach to exercise, whether it is aerobic or resistance. You can and should have both. I believe that fitness should be functional. You exercise for an hour a day, but you do life for the rest. You should build a body that is capable of doing real-life activities.

What are the benefits of aerobic exercise?

It has many cardiovascular benefits, and because of the positive effects that it has on blood lipids and blood pressure, it plays a considerable role in reducing death as a result of heart related matter. It could assist with weight loss and many people who do it regularly talk about the positive mental benefits that they have reaped from it .

What are the benefits of resistance training?

From 30 years onwards you are losing muscle and it is very important to set time aside to build muscle.

The benefits of resistance training are many, both externally and internally.

Resistance training:

– stops muscle loss and helps begin the rebuilding process;

– makes daily activities easier, from carrying groceries to rearranging your   furniture;

– increases your bone density, giving you a strong, stable skeleton;

– improves your balance and coordination;

– builds muscles which will burn more calories, even while you are    resting – this is what you want when you want to lose weight, more    muscles also results in increased metabolism, in fact it creates a 22% more   afterburn in calories;

– reduces blood pressure by making your heart stronger;

– has many health benefits i.e. lowered blood sugar;

– stronger muscles helps increase your endurance;

– gives you a general feeling of wellness and strength;

– raises your energy levels;

– helps to reduce typical injuries that plague older people: if you age with dense  bones, strong muscles and good balance, your risk of injury reduces significantly.

Do you want to know what I think? Enjoy spring, get outside, get active, feel the sun on your skin and be thankful that you can be part of it.