By Dr. Wes Youngberg, DrPH, MPH, CNS
On July 20, 1969, the world held its breath as Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to walk on the moon. After setting foot on the moon surface, Armstrong radioed to NASA the famous words, “It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But although he walked on the moon, Armstrong didn’t like walking in general. In fact, he hated exercise! In a less famous quote, Armstrong said, “I believe that every human has a finite amount of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.”
The quote is funny but not very logical. In fact, the opposite is true. Research shows that the more time we spend raising our heart rates through exercise, the longer our hearts will end up beating. Did you know that every hour of aerobic exercise may add 2-3 hours to your lifespan? Aerobic exercise includes activities like brisk walking, jogging, hiking, biking, and swimming. It involves continual movement of your large muscle groups. It also increases your heart rate and need for oxygen.
Aerobic exercise has a host of health benefits:
- lowers blood sugars
- strengthens the heart
- burns fat
- lowers triglycerides
- boosts energy
- reduces disease risk
- improves mood
- increases longevity
How Can You Benefit from Aerobic Exercise?
- Find an activity you enjoy.
- Set aside the time–a good goal is to build up to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 3-5X a week. This should be in addition to after-meal exercise (which prevents blood sugar spikes and helps bring down blood sugars). But it’s okay to start small and work your way up. You can even start with 5 minutes each day. It’s best to aerobic exercise before breakfast or a few hours after eating.
How Intense Should Aerobic Exercise Be? You want to get your heart beating and your skin sweating. And you want to be a little out of breath. But don’t exercise to the point of pain, exhaustion or collapse. An easy way to exercise at the right intensity is to pay attention to your voice. You should be able to talk fairly comfortably but you shouldn’t be able to whistle or sing. I encourage you to take advantage of the many benefits of aerobic exercise. It won’t take long to notice a big improvement in how you feel.
Strength Training is another important strategy. It’s a powerful way to control blood sugars and improve health. This exercise strengthens the body’s major muscle groups. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat. The more you use your muscles, the more glucose they will need. This naturally reduces insulin resistance and lowers blood sugars. Research shows that diabetics who participate in strength training and aerobic exercise have lower hemoglobin a-1C levels than those who only do one or the other. Strength training also strengthens the bones, improves posture and balance, and prevents age-related mobility problems.
Once you’re in the habit of walking after meals and doing some aerobic exercise, you might want to add some strength training. A good goal is 20 minutes 2-3 times per week. Your muscles need time to rest so don’t do this more often than every other day. Strength training can involve weights, bands, or just exercises that use the weight of your own body. You can buy dumb-bells or bands to use at home or you might want to join a gym.
What is the Best Kind of Exercise? It’s the kind of exercise that you actually do! If you have time to include after-meal walking, aerobic exercise and strength training–that’s great! You’ll experience fantastic results. If not, do what you can! Every choice adds up. I’d like to close by sharing 3 tips that will help you stay active for good.
- FIND A FITNESS BUDDY. If you need extra motivation to get moving, try the buddy system. Find a walking partner or someone to go to the gym with. It’s really motivating to have someone else encouraging you and counting on your support.
- BE CONSISTENT. You won’t truly benefit from exercise unless you do it regularly. You can’t make up for a week without exercising by working out extra long on the weekends. You need the benefit from activity every day.
- ENJOY YOURSELF. Choose activities you like or find ways to make exercise more fun–like listening to music or walking in a beautiful setting. You’re more likely to stick with something if you enjoy it.
By now, I hope you feel encouraged to get moving and stay moving. I know you can do it! Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Dr. Wes Youngberg is a clinical nutritionist from Temecula, California where he practices lifestyle and nutritional medicine. He also is an assistant professor of nutrition at Loma Linda University. He has successfully helped thousands of patients to reverse type 2 diabetes.
