Do you know how much daily exercise for health we are supposed to be doing? How much is too much, where it starts to negatively impact your health? Do you know the best exercise to lose weight?
I was visiting my parents who live two states away and I have a running joke with my father, where I ask – “Dad have you been lifting your weights a little?” He always replies, “I’ll start tomorrow.” He has said this for the last 30 years!
Now I hadn’t seen my parents for about a year and a half – bad daughter I know – but we do speak every week. In that time though, I had written and been following my own One Ten Toned exercise program. This involves just a little amount of weight bearing exercises and movement every day. Or skipping a day here and there when life gets a little crazy at times.
Book research
I told my parents all about the new book and even sent my father a little seven-day sampler to try out as part of my research. While he did it to help me, he was convinced that I wasn’t quite on the right path and I needed to do at least 30 minutes of all different exercises. He switched to what he thought he should be doing and then after a short while he stopped.
So when they saw me, they couldn’t quite believe the muscle tone! The fact that I could do my push ups without effort, squats, throwing the weights around like they were nothing. For the first time in my life, looked rock solid and fit, with muscles shaping my legs, arms and back. Where as when I lost weight before, I would just look skinny and weak.
So daily exercise for losing weight and gaining health comes down to a few factors:
- the minimum effective dose
- prioritising weight bearing exercise over cardio (even walking)
- doing a little something each day
- doing the things you don’t hate
- having it home-based and readily at your disposal
- understanding that exercise for health and weight loss is not the same as sports performance
- moving frequently throughout the day
So my father is really active in terms of walking, shopping, practising golf etc but prioritising these activities for his daily exercise were actually contributing to his health issues. So we set up three compound exercises with weights for a minimum of 3 reps x 3 sets a day and that’s it! He can do one exercise, he can do all three, he can add more of other things and he can even skip a day. He has placed his weights in a spot in the house that he walks past often and says that it reminds him to do another set. Three weeks on and he is still going strong.
The biggest challenge
Realistically the biggest challenge for most people is keeping it up. If it’s too difficult, goes for too long, costs too much, requires you to drive a while to get there, requires childcare, special equipment, you hate it, you already have a busy life or if the stars have to align before you can do it, then it won’t work. And I should know, as I avoided weight-bearing exercise for about 20 years, until now!
Health is about creating a relaxed, easy-to-do lifestyle. To find out how to do that with exercise, grab a copy of my book One Ten Toned and just start today.
To your health and muscles!
Kristy x
Image by www.adrianalfordphotography.com
Note:
Join our private Facebook Group Slim Birdy – ZEN Beach Diet – Eating Peaty for more discussion on health and how to lose weight the Ray Peat way.
