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A great way to self monitor your exercise is to keep an exercise journal, just like you would a food journal. Write down what you did for each exercise session, how you felt before and after the session, your energy levels, things you found easy, and things you found challenging. Keeping an exercise journal is also a great way to monitor progress towards your goals.
Self monitoring exercise is being aware of all the impacts of exercise physically and psychologically. Once you are aware of the positive impacts of exercise you can continue to move in that direction. Once you are aware of any negative impacts of exercise, you can change or rearrange them so as to move in a more positive direction.
Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.
Studies have shown that physical activity is, quite obviously, one of the primary factors when evaluating a person’s overall health. Do you know why? With the help of our nutrition team, we compiled a few of the most important benefits from regular exercise. They shared information on how regular physical activity can help almost all systems of the body, from your immune system to your blood and circulatory systems to your mental health. Exercise can also help you avoid physical injuries. Before we dive into the benefits of physical exercise, let’s cover what a fitness plan actually is. What is a Fitness Plan? Put simply, a fitness plan is a schedule of planned sessions of physical exercise. These sessions can be relaxed exercise, like a walk around the park, or it can be more strenuous, like interval training or resistance training. Resistance/Anaerobic Training:
Cardiovascular/Aerobic Training:
Depending on your age, your exercise needs can differ drastically. Contact us today to schedule a nutritional evaluation so one of our nutritionists can create a custom fitness plan especially for you. Exercise Habits and Insulin: Reduce Chances of Getting Diabetes Exercise improves your body’s ability to tolerate carbohydrates, by enhancing the action of insulin. When exercising, your muscles pull blood sugar, or blood glucose, out of the blood and into your muscles. The more you exercise the less insulin you need to manage blood sugar levels. If you have less than normal insulin and glucose levels in your body, your body will limit the amount of carbohydrates converted into fat, which reduces fat storage and enhances fat burning. People with poor exercise habits have a greater risk of developing diabetes, where their body has difficulty utilizing and/or producing insulin. Learn more about diabetes here. Lastly, exercise is not only beneficial to your muscles. The IGF-1 protein is released after exercise, and stimulates neurogenesis, or the formation of new neural connections in the brain. In addition to the neural benefit of this protein, it also stimulates muscle growth as well as enhancing the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain. Decrease Risk of Disease This is one of the greatest benefits of working out regularly. Just by working out, we can enhance our immune system and our brain health. A few fitness experts have theorized that fitness plans can bolster your immune system due to the fact that you’re breathing harder than usual. Panting, or breathing harder than usual, can potentially flush pathogens out of our airways which reduces the chances for an infection to occur. Also, in strenuous exercise, our bodies can enhance our lymphatic system. This system is a vital piece of your body’s circulatory and immune function. Since this system isn’t connected to the heart, it needs another source to supply the necessary “pumping” action to maintain its flow. Exercising regularly causes the your muscles to expand and contract, and this muscle movement one of the most effective ways to make sure your immune system is flushing out dangerous toxins and pathogens. We typically see a lower white blood cell count when someone has completed a high intensity or long duration workout. Because of this, someone who just ran a marathon is much more likely to catch a cold than someone who only went for a light jog. At the very minimum, we recommend that our patients incorporate at least 15-20 minutes of high intensity fitness or 30-45 minutes of low intensity fitness every day. Avoid Physical Injuries This might seem counterintuitive, as more active people might seem more likely to injure themselves during their exercise. While more active people are prone to accidental injuries, like a pulled muscle or a few blisters, they are improving their flexibility and strength. Because of this, physical exercise is especially good for our older patients. If you are on a fitness plan, you are a lot less likely to fall or tweak something when reaching up on a shelf, for example. Day to day lot you are a lot less likely to have a physical injury if you exercise. Creating a fitness plan is one of the best ways to be proactive on your health. Simply by exercising for 30 minutes to an hour each day, you can reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular diseases, injuries, diabetes, and much more.
Exercise programs are popular. There are gyms and other fitness providers with many different types of classes, exercise routines and equipment, catering to a wide range of people. If you are unfamiliar with what is involved, starting an exercise program can be challenging. Talk to an AUSactive registered l to find out about the many options available. Health benefits of exercise programsAn exercise program that is tailored specifically to your needs is a great way to stay physically and mentally fit. It also provides additional benefits such as:
Before starting your exercise programBefore you get started, if you are new to exercise or are coming back from a long period of inactivity, it will help if you: Assessing your fitness level for an exercise programYou probably have some idea of how fit you are. However, assessing and recording baseline (starting) fitness scores can give you benchmarks (points of comparison) against which to measure your progress. It’s valuable to assess your progress on a regular basis, for example each month. Remembering progression with some goals may be achieved in shorter or longer periods of time. Before you start your new exercise program, record:
(Note: Some medications affect your heart rate. If you are taking any medications that do so, consult a health professional and consider another way of measuring your exertion levels, such as the Borg scale.) Consult an exercise or health professional to help you interpret this information or to do a fitness assessment for you, and work out what sort of program is best for you. Designing your fitness programConsulting an exercise professional when designing your fitness program can help you reduce injury and customise your program to your needs, especially if you are new to exercise or you haven’t done any physical activity for a while. Points to keep in mind when designing your program include:
Assemble your exercise clothing and equipmentBe sure to pick shoes designed for the activity you have in mind, as well as for your foot type. If you’re planning to buy gym equipment, choose something that’s practical, enjoyable and easy to use. Getting started on your exercise programWhen you are ready to start getting active:
Remember to:
For more information, visit our fact sheet Physical activity – how to get started. Monitoring progress on your exercise programAssess your progress six weeks after you start your program (by measuring the same parameters as you did to record your baseline fitness) and then every eight to 12 weeks. You may need to adjust the time, intensity and type of exercise you do to continue improving. On the other hand, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re exercising just the right amount to meet your fitness goals. If you start to lose motivation, set new goals or try a new activity. Exercising with a friend or taking a class at a local fitness centre may help. Where to get helpThis page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:
This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:
This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:
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