| Your Health: | | | | | |  | Exercise for Health |
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| | Exercise Questions | | | | I am carrying a lot of weight around the middle. What are the best exercises to help me shift this? | | | Unfortunately it’s not possible to spot-reduce fat from one particular area of your body. The trick is to concentrate on cardiovascular exercises such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or aerobics classes to help you burn fat overall, and then you can concentrate on toning exercises specifically aimed at the area that you wish to target.
It’s important to incorporate weight-bearing exercise into your exercise routine for toning and building muscle. |
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| | | Weight training is not just for men! Increasing your muscle mass will help to boost your metabolism and therefore make it easier to lose weight, so don’t be afraid of weight training. Muscle plays a very important role in controlling weight. It requires more fuel in the form of calories just to maintain it even when you sit and do nothing. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Weight bearing exercise is also important for strengthening your bones.
So make sure you do some cardiovascular exercise and incorporate some light weight training – you don’t need any fancy equipment – you can use tins of beans or water bottles partially filled with sand as makeshift dumbbells. Combining these two forms of exercise with a healthy diet will give you optimal results.
| | | My teenage daughter hates exercising. How can I encourage her to be more active?
| It can be difficult to get teenagers involved in exercise, particularly since girls tend to be very conscious of their appearance, and reluctant to get involved in group activities. However, you should have a chat with her about the importance of exercising for overall health, and then ask her what activities, if any, she would like to get involved in.
Find out what classes are going on in your local area and see if she would be interested in any of this. Many gyms and community centres run dance classes for kids and teenagers now, and some gyms even set aside a couple of hours each day for teenagers to work out with supervision.
Chat to the parents of her friends to find out what activities her friends are taking part in, and perhaps you will be able to arrange for her to join in with them. She will probably be more interested in doing what her peers are doing rather than doing what you suggest!
At weekends get the whole family involved in activities, whether it’s helping with the housework, cutting the grass or packing the car up and heading to a mountain in your area for a day or afternoon of climbing, or take the family to the local park for some games that you can all play, such as rugby or football.
| | I’m a taxi driver and spend most of my day sitting in the car. Is there anything I can do to be more healthy and active? |
If you are working long hours and sitting for most of that time, it’s important that you try to get out of the car regularly and stretch your legs. Every time you stop for a break, make sure you get out of the car and walk around. Park a little further from the shop if you need to go and buy something to eat, as this will help to increase your activity.
On your days off, set aside some time for exercise, such as a round of golf, a game of football or even a walk in your local park. Try to get another member of your family or a friend involved because it is easier and more motivating to exercise with a partner than by yourself.
When you are working, try to eat healthily and don’t rely on corner shops and garages for snacks. Make some sandwiches at home and take them in the car with you, along with some fruit. Unsalted nuts and seeds are also great for snacking and will keep you fuller for longer than chocolate or crisps.
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I had a baby 4 months ago and now I want to start doing some exercise again. Can you advise me on how to fit in exercise with my busy routine? |
It might be a good idea to invest in some exercise DVDs that you could do at home when your baby is sleeping. There is a huge variety of DVDs all catering for different abilities and exercise preferences, and many of them offer shorter workouts (30 – 45 minutes) that you should be able to fit into your day twice or three times a week. There are even some that are specifically designed for post-pregnancy weight loss and fitness.
I would also encourage you to take your baby out in it’s pram for long walks, weather permitting. Find some new routes in your area but always stay within areas where you feel safe. Combining cardiovascular exercise with some toning exercises will help you to lose any baby weight and tone up again.
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I’m a busy working mum and I find it difficult to make time to exercise. Any tips? |
It can be difficult to fit exercise into a busy routine, but once you have set aside a couple of hours a week for exercise, you will wonder why you didn’t do it before now! There may be one or two evenings in the week that you can spare an hour for exercise – most people are less busy at the beginning of the week, so try to set aside a time for exercise that suits. It may mean sacrificing some of your favourite TV programmes, but that’s what the omnibus is for! Once you have established a routine that includes exercise, it will become normal for you and you will have no problems fitting it in.
When you have decided upon the type of exercise that you want to do, find out what facilities and classes are available in your local area. If you feel that you need a lot of motivation to exercise, it would be worth joining a class because the leader will be able to encourage and motivate you. Perhaps you think a gym workout would be suitable for you, in which case you should check out the gyms in your area before deciding on one to join. The gym instructors will be able to work out programmes for you, keep you motivated and encourage you to do well. If you prefer to workout alone, consider some exercise DVDs and send the kids off to do their homework whilst you workout in the living room!
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