Exercise...The World's Best Medicine

What if I told you that you in just 30 minutes from right now you could feel better, think more clearly and improve your health. Does such a magic bullet exist?

Yes. It's called exercise. If you go for a 30-minute walk, right now, I guarantee you will feel better. Simple as that.

Exercise truly is the closest thing there is to a wonder drug. This new research illustrates that!

Not only is it good for you physically but it also helps your brain. Ever notice how your best ideas seem to come to you when you're going for a walk? There's something to it. It also boosts your memory, improves your concentrations and slows cognitive decline.

Diet or Exercise? What's More Effective When It Comes to Weight Loss?

Should I diet or exercise to lose weight?  Which one is more effective?

It's a constant discussion whether either you're trying to drop just a few pounds or 30.  Ultimately, it's a combination of the two that work.

But when trying to drop a large amount of weight the challenge can be daunting.  It's usually a basic premise of move more, eat less crap and more of the good, real stuff that works.

I am a big believer that 30 minutes of exercise a day will change your life.  Dramatically.  I also subscribe to the Mediterranean diet philosophy that focuses on produce, olive oil, fish and wine.   I lost 50+ pounds more than a decade ago and have kept it off even after having a baby.


Yet you see studies and those motivational pictures on Instagram that scream "A FLAT STOMACH STARTS IN THE KITCHEN" or "YOU CAN'T OUT-EXERCISE A BAD DIET."

All of that is true but nothing gives you the immediate satisfaction and endorphin rush of a nice, 30-minute workout to get the blood flowing.

A new study proves that.

It's a big, scientific-jargon-filled piece outlined in the October's Annals of Behavioral Medicine but the results are clear: it's best to diet and exercise at the same time but you might see results if you start with exercise first.  Once you see the benefit of a few weeks at the gym and you start seeing changes in your body, improving your diet might be the next natural step.

Just try moving for 30 minutes.  It will make you feel like a new person.  Promise.

Looking for some great exercise options?  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Walking or running - being outside in the fresh air does WONDERS
• Pilates - great for the core
• A workout from the Nike Training Club app - they don't pay me to endorse it....it's just that awesome
• Hula hooping - it's like a natural corset for your core
• My full-body toning routine that can be done anywhere and requires no equipment.  Perfect for the gym-averse.

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How to Hula Hoop Your Way to a Tighter Core (Video)

Hula hooping has changed my stomach.  It's like a corset for your core.

I blogged about how to get started with your hula hoop but you have emailed and told me that you still can't quite get the hang of it.   Hopefully this "tutorial" Tracy Kornet & I have produced will help.

I use a weighted hula hoop at home.  Any hoop will do.  Tracy & I broke out the sparkle pink, non-weighted version for this video.

How to exercise with a hula hoop.

Can find a weighted hoop?  Buy one here: 

When it Comes to Exercise What the Heck Should You Do?

The Seven Minute Workout stole headlines last month.  (It is kind of awesome)

Courtesy: Wallsave.com

Then this Sunday's New York Times said it's all about four minutes.

Here's a quick excerpt from the story: 

Half began a supervised exercise program that reiterated the Norwegian researchers’ former routine. After briefly warming up, these volunteers ran on a treadmill at 90 percent of their maximal heart rate — a tiring pace, says Dr. Tjonna, at which “you cannot talk in full sentences, but can use single words” — for four four-minute intervals, with three minutes of slow walking between, followed by a brief cool-down. The entire session was repeated three times a week for 10 weeks.

The second group, however, completed only one four-minute strenuous run. They, too, exercised three times a week for 10 weeks.

At the end of the program, the men had increased their maximal oxygen uptake, or endurance capacity, by an average of 10 percent or more, with no significant differences in the gains between the two groups.

What about 30 minutes of exercise a day most days of the week?  Isn't that what doctors tell you to do?

 
Crossfit gyms and spinning studios are the 2013 version of the cupcake craze.  They're popping up everywhere from urban street corners to the burbs.

There's pilates, barre burn classes and boxing studios.  The options are endless.  Suggestions as to how much and when you should exercise are more confusing than a Kardashian family tree. 

So what should you do?  Here's my take culled over 25 years of exercising, playing sports, gaining weight, losing weight and keeping it off for more than a decade.

Putting The 7-Minute Workout Into Action

So Monday was all about getting caught up in the buzz of the"7-minute workout".

Guilty.

But I did more than blog about this new fitness discovery.  I actually did my own version at the gym. 

Here was my Monday plan:

• Thirty minutes on the stepmill.  I love it because I can read and work up a good sweat.  I have to do so much homework for my "day job" that if I can multitask and do my Rangers/Cowboys/Mavs/Colonial/Nelson/Whatever homework while exercising, I am a step ahead. 

• Following that, I did (most of) the exercises suggested by the American College of Sports Medicine in their sample workout: 

Photo: American College of Sports Medicine

1. Jumping jacks Total body

2. Wall sit Lower body

3. Push-up Upper body

4. Abdominal crunch Core

5. Step-up onto chair Total body

6. Squat Lower body

7. Triceps dip on chair Upper body

8. Plank Core

9. High knees/running in place Total body

10. Lunge Lower body

11. Push-up and rotation Upper body

12. Side plank Core

• I followed their practice of performing each exercise for 30 seconds followed by a 10 second transition time to the next exercise.  It totaled, yes, about seven minutes per circuit.
• I did not have a chair, so in place of Step Ups (#5), I did reverse side angle lunges.  In place of the Triceps Dips on a Chair (#7), I did simple floor dips with bent legs.
• I performed this routine twice. 

You know what, I feel like I got a workout.  As I write this at 9am Tuesday morning, I'm a little sore, especially in my upper body.  I attribute that to the push-ups (#3) and push-ups with a twist (#11). 

The thing is, those 12 exercises are not the end-all/be-all.  You can do a variety of exercises for a quality full body workout.  Any health and fitness magazine can suggest some great exercises for you to do. 

The key was the intensity and the speed at which I did the work.  There was no dawdling.  The workout was quick, intense and challenging.   It's a good option but, like I reiterated Monday, not the only way to go when it comes to getting in shape.

A Great Quickie Workout When You're Pressed for Time

I hear ya.  I feel ya.  I sympathize with ya.  But not having any time to exercise is not an excuse.

Wednesday night I was able to cram in a quick 20 minute workout after I got home from work around 7:40pm (which is early for me).  Jordan was crawling all over me and even doing jumping jacks with me.  It was kind of fun.

Here is the actual workout:
10 squats
10 pushups
10 situps (I did five sets of situps and five sets of bicycle situps)
10 triceps dips
10 jumping jacks
Do this circuit once and repeat 10 times.

Thirty minutes of exercise can change your life.  This quick, little routine lifted my spirits and made me feel so much better about myself today.  Not so slothlike. 

Try it.  Or try some simple stretches or yoga poses for half an hour.  Tell me what you think.  I promise, you will feel better and have more energy after the workout than you did before it.