Debbie Vail, NC
  • Health
  • About
  • Contact
  • Auburn Food Buying Club
  • Resources

Exercise, Gotta Love it!

2/22/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture

As most of you know, I've been in training with Hawthorn University.  I have to say that I love my schooling and all of the knowledge that I have gained and that I am continuing to gain.   With all that knowledge, it has led to an incredible diet and lifestyle change, and today I can proudly say that I am no longer on the past medications that were once a big part of my life; medications like sleep aids, cholesterol, blood pressure, and diuretics.  With a personalized design plan and targeted supplementation, it sure does feel good to be free from prescriptions.  I have been wanting to use my knowledge to help others in the same ways that have helpd me, and so I have been taking a few clients now, but I do limit my numbers since I still devote much of my time to my studies.  

So what I want to share with you today is the importance of exercise.  I have a fellow classmate who has been certified in personal training, of which I hope to accomplish one day myself, but not until my studies at Hawthorn are complete.  Let me make it clear here that, and as many of you know, I really have not enjoyed exercising.  In fact, it was so dreadful that I just didn't do it, but I always felt guilty, and came up with many excuses not to do it, with the main excuse of "I'm too busy."  I kept my little feeble excuse even in the face of explicit evidence in my studies that exercise is one of the biggest  factors in obtaining health and well being.  I simply could not bring myself to like it.  How in the world could I ever learn to like something that I hated so much.  I mean, I'd rather scrub a toilet than exercise.  I thought I was just doomed to a lifelong hate relationship with it.  

Then something happened that really changed that for me.  So now, do I love it?  Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but at least I have had a revelation that has made me love the results.   I think that prioritization is the key, and prioritization of exercise won't happen unless there is a reason to prioritize it.  I can now say that exercise is a priority in my life.  Here's why.  Since I want to be able to test blood glucose levels with my clients, I purchased a blood glucose meter.  One day I did an experiment on myself.  I took my blood sugar reading before I exercised and then again after I exercised.  The result - a 14 point drop in blood sugar!  I knew from my studies that it should do this but somehow seeing is believing.   Then on a second incident, I went for an eye exam last week and the technician needed to take my blood pressure.  Since I don't have high blood pressure on my home monitor, I still knew that it would be high in an office setting, since I've been told many years ago that I have "white coat blood pressure."  That's a term given to people who get high blood pressure from simply entering a medical facility.  So I told her that it would probably be high, but then she took it and she said that no, indeed it was normal.  What a nice surprise!   I attribute that to diet and lifestyle factors, exercise being the most recent targeted regular addition. 

So let me encourage you to get up and get moving.  It doesn't have to be a big deal.  And really, I would advise against prolonged high intensity exercise, as it can cause excess cortisol release leading to disease.  Here is a low impact, no frills 25 minute workout that I like.  I've done it so much that I don't even need to see it anymore.  I  just recorded the words on my digital voice recorder and I use that instead.  You can even put your own music on if you'd like since there is none provided.  I like that because most of the songs I hear are not to my liking anyway.  If this YouTube video is too easy for you, try adding some hand or leg weights.

OK, go get busy!  And please comment on this post and let me know what exercise you enjoy doing.
3 Comments

The Truth About Exercise

5/29/2012

4 Comments

 
Picture
Have you learned the truth about exercise?  If not, this post will have you change the way you look at fitness and your health and you will be excited to know that you no longer have to spend hours upon hours on the treadmill.  Just minutes a day will get you in the best shape of your life.  I'm looking forward to it.  Want to join me?

It has long been held that to achieve fitness and burn fat, long hours on the treadmill every week would do the trick.  Sustained cardio exercise is what most people think is best.  I don't know about you but this has never been something that I looked forward to.   

Doing time on the treadmill had two strikes against it in my opinion.  For one, it's just plain boring and you find yourself knowing things that you never wanted to know like how many tiles or holes are in the celing?  It's so boring that's why  TVs are put in front of the equipment at gyms and why you need a headset.  Does anyone know what I'm talking about? 

And the second strike against it is that not only is it boring but it is just down right time consuming.  There's only 24 hours in a day and if you have an hour's travel time to and from work that leaves little time for family and other important things like preparing healthy meals.  

So for these reasons, I have not found the desire to exercise but I was excited to learn the truth about exercise and to know that the two biggest strikes against it has been eliminated, plus knowing that it is better for you than longer workouts made it all the more attractive. 

With a shorter workout with greater intensity you can get better results than the long cardio workouts on treadmills or ellipticals.  This type of exercise will boost your metabolism long after you are done, which is the key to effective weight loss. 

 This method of exercise is for everyone, for those who are in poor health to those who are the most fit.  I learned this from a class led by my chiropractor, Dr. Rob Meadows of Meadows Chiropractic in Auburn, Alabama.  Surprisingly, long cardio exercises can raise stress hormones like cortisol and endorphins.  Cortisol stimulates appetite, has catabolic properties, increases fat storage (this was a shocker), and slows down and inhibits exercise recovery.  

The problem too with sustained cardio exercise is that with this type of exercise you are in a slow fat burning mode only during the length of the exercise.  What is really needed is an exercise that keeps you in the fat burning mode long after the exercise is finished.  This is called metabolic conditioning and it stimulates the Human Growth Hormone with an after-burn effect of 24-48 hours post exercise.  Humane Growth Hormone is a vital hormone that is key for health and longevity preventing heart disease and other diseases.

Metabolic conditioning is achieved by short bursts of high intense exercise of only 20 seconds with a 20 second rest.  This would all be accomplished in 12 minutes per day making it a 6 minute workout with a 6 minute rest.   Every day can be different so that you will never get bored.  For instance, you may have each day of the week set aside to work on a different type of exercise such as endurance, coordination, flexibility, speed, strength, or balance.

I bought the DVD called Max T3 but you do not have to purchase this to implement this program.  You do not need any specific exercise equipment either but here are a few suggestions that you might like to have.  You can actually do this without any equipment.  All you have to do is choose any exercise.  It can be weight lifting, marching in place, working out with an exercise ball, steps, lunges, swimming, bicycling, dancing, jumping jacks, push ups, etc., anything at all, even just sitting in place lifting cans or weights in hands for those who have bad knees or backs. 

The 3T in Max T3 stands for Time, Type, and Tempo.  I have discussed the Time and Type.  The Tempo is such that you want to do the 20 second sessions by going all out - really work at it - do it to the MAX.  Don't despair if you can't give it your MAX but just do it with as much intensity as you can.  Many times I fall short of making it the full 20 seconds with full intensity but I just keep going as best as I can.  With time, I'll be able to make it the full 20 and I know you will too.  I started today.  Want to join me?  Here's our program in a nutshell:

1.  Do any exercise for 20 seconds with much fervor and to the MAX.  Put your whole heart into it.
2,  Rest for 20 seconds.
3.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 two more times doing the same exercise (total time = 2 minutes).

The above is considered a round.  Change to a different exercise and repeat the round until you have done 6 rounds for a total of 12 minutes, that's it, 12 minutes and you are done with it!

Plan to do this about 3 times per week. 

4 Comments
    Picture
    Debbie Vail, NC
    ​Greetings from east central Alabama and welcome to my site.  I am a graduate of Hawthorn University, a leader in holistic education.  
    See more​ ​about me and my educational experience.
    Please see my resources page for your supplement needs 

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    About Nutrition
    Baked Oatmeal
    Bpa
    Bvo
    Candy
    Coconut Lime Cooler
    Crackers
    Dessert
    Detox
    Eggs
    Exercise
    Fats
    Flame Retardant In Drinks
    Fluoride
    Garden
    Gm Foods
    Grain Free
    Green Drink
    Herbal Tea
    Juicing
    Lacto Ferm. Carrots
    Lacto-ferm. Pickles
    Lacto-ferm. Salsa
    Milk
    Msg
    Organic
    Pancakes
    Pet Food
    Quinoa
    Soda Alternatives
    Soup
    Sprouted Grain
    Squash Puppies
    Students Learn
    Sweetners
    Toxins
    Vitamin C
    Vitamin D
    West Nile Virus
    Where Do I Start
    Whey

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2017
    November 2015
    April 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Subscribe to Updates from Debbie Vail, NC
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.