Fitness Facts & Fictions

Fitness Facts

Regular physical activity will improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. You will experience both short and long term benefits. And these benefits are not just physical - exercise will also keep you mentally fit.

Many people ask ‘what is the right exercise for me’ to get fit. Well let’s start with replacing the word ‘exercise’ with the word ‘movement’ . Why? Because it opens up some many more creative options and will help you to find more ways to incorporate movement habits in to your lifestyle.

Exercise is often associated only with the gym or a specific workout or routine. Whereas movement can be found in so many more places. Think gardening, washing the car, walking, playing football with the kids, going up 5 flights of stairs, or simply swinging about in the local playground. There are plenty of ways to sneak in ‘movement snacks’ in between formal or scheduled workout time,

Then let’s look at your motivation. What is your main driver for moving more - is there something specific that you are trying to improve e.g. Mobility? Strength? Weight Loss? Coordination? All of them?

Unless you are motivated by a very specific goal like running a marathon in less than 4 hours before you are 40, or holding a plank for 2 minutes before the end of the month, then it can help to focus instead on why you want to exercise more to discover which type of movement is best for you.

Let’s take some of the example drivers and some of the movement types that we often cover in personal training programmes:

Mobility: Stretching, Natural Movement, Morning Moves

Strength: BodyWeight Training, Natural Movement, Weight & resistance training

Weight Loss: HIIT or 2-4 hours aerobic exercise (like walking, jogging), Weight Training

Co-ordination: Dancing, Boxing, Natural Movement

General Health: All of the above!

Now look at some other things that you want to include with your movement aims e.g. ‘to relax’, ‘to be social’, ‘to listen music’ , ‘to try new things’ etc. These are factors that will steer you towards different ways to move depending on whether you prefer the freedom of exercising alone, or enjoy the social contact of a group class or training with friends etc.

Finally, take a look at what time of day you have the most energy to move - and also when you are the most motivated. Mornings? Lunchtimes? Evenings?

So, what is the best movement for you? Something that combines all of the above .

Whichever exercise you choose, remember that every move you make is an investment in a stronger body for a stronger future. Improve your quality of life in later life with more movement starting now.

Fitness Fictions

So here we bust a few myths on fitness that will also help you to determine the best way for you to get fit.

To burn fat, I need to do 2+ hours of aerobic exercise

Long walks or jogs will indeed take you into the ‘fat-burning’ zone. But it’s not always possible to set aside the required hours. Try a HIIT routine instead - it can be done more frequently, and since it is anaerobic it will raise your heart rate and you will burn more calories. The fat burning process will even continue during your rest and recovery. Result!

If I use weights, I’ll send up looking like Arnie

A common misconception is that training with weights is going to add bulk. And for this reason many women will steer clear of using weights. However, when we age, our muscles atrophy and weight training will maintain strength, hormonal balance and can tone your body. To look like Arnie, you will have to lie like Arnie and dramatically increase nutritional intake and spend most of your day lifting heavy weights.

I need to do 100 daily crunches to get strong abs

Ask yourself how often you actually use a crunch move in daily life? Probably never. You will gain stronger abs and core by incorporating some key moves into a Natural Movement routine. Movements like a plank or crawling will strengthen the abdominal in a more holistic way.

I need to go the gym to work out

You might prefer to go to the gym to be social or join a group class. But to work out? There are so many more options to move either at home, or outdoors you might want to consider using your gym fee for something more fun : )

I just need to exercise more to get fit and healthy

Not entirely. Diet plays a huge role in your health , so exercise alone just won’t cut it. Equally diet alone will not get you to optimum fitness and will certainly not tick the boxes for key health indicators such as mobility, strength, balance, coordination etc.