Exercise Facts You Need to Think About
Definitely use a pedometer to make sure you are walking and moving about daily. Remember the goal is to ultimately hit 10,000 steps daily. But pedometers do not measure “aerobic activity” nor do they measure weight training episodes. And those two exercise modalities are crucial to heart health and creating energy balance, and to help you to maintain your weight. Want to lose weight? Then you really need to add weight training and aerobic efforts to your weekly exercise efforts.
Most exercise machine calorie counters are not accurate. Even when you put in your height, weight and age, in most cases the machine will not give you an accurate account of calories burned, especially as you become more aerobically fit. Taking heart rates and staying in a “moderately high aerobic training zone” ensures that you are burning calories efficiently. Learn how to figure out your “training zone” and then take your pulse periodically throughout your exercise effort.
Do not assume that because you do manage to exercise for an hour daily, you can relax and become sedentary the rest of the day. To avoid diseases like diabetes type 2 and possibly heart disease and cancer, you need to move throughout the rest of the day too. Make sure you get up and move periodically –even if it’s a quick stretch and stroll around your office floor. Take a 10 minute walk late am and in the afternoon or add a mid-day brisk but short walk, to ensure that your body continues its movement despite your work demands.