In our previous post, we discussed the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. While a healthy diet contributes more significantly to our weight loss efforts, regular physical activity is still a good habit to develop. Benefits of exercise include lowering our blood pressure; decreasing our risk of diabetes; decreasing our bad (while increasing our good) cholesterol; improving our mood; boosting our energy; helping to relieve stress; and improving our sleep.
There are 2 types of exercise, and it is important that we find ways to do both.
- Aerobic activities make us breathe harder and cause our heart rate to increase. Examples include walking/running, swimming, cycling, dancing, etc. and are more commonly known as “cardio” exercises. These exercises generally help us to burn calories.
- Muscle-strengthening activities make our muscles stronger. Muscle-strengthening activities include lifting weights, using resistance bands, and doing push-ups, sit-ups, planks, etc. These exercises help us build muscle tone.
These are some ways for us to integrate an exercise routine into our daily lives:
- Start slowly. If it has been a while since you’ve worked out, start slow and work your way up. Walking is usually a good place to begin. As your endurance increases, you can make your workouts more challenging by increasing the duration, frequency, and/or intensity of your sessions.
- Choose activities that you enjoy. You are much more likely to enjoy your workouts if they are fun. Be adventurous and try new things. There are so many new forms of exercise available. Some that I’ve enjoyed include boot camp classes, high intensity interval training, Zumba, and even pole dancing.
- Find a partner. Ask friends or family to work out with you. Participate in group activities like obstacle courses, tennis, softball, kickball, flag football or basketball. If you’re new to your city, see if there’s a local Black Girls Run group in your area. You are more likely to stick with an exercise routine if you have someone holding you accountable or depending on you to be a part of the team.
- Find ways to burn extra calories throughout the day. Park in the back of the parking lot. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take a walk during your lunch break. Stand vs. sitting as often as you can.
- Mix it up. Try to avoid doing the same workout all the time. Mix more difficult exercises with easier ones. Alternate upper body and lower body exercises. This helps to minimize both risk of injury and also “muscle memory”.
- Strive for 150 minutes of mild-to-moderate exercise per week. Whether that be 30 minutes 5 days a week or 60 minutes 2-3 days per week doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that you find the time to get your exercise in each week.
- Reward yourself. When you reach new milestones, do something to treat yourself. If you drop a clothing size, buy a new dress to celebrate. If you reach a weight loss goal, buy those shoes you’ve had your eyes on.
What types of exercises do you enjoy? Have you come up with any creative ways to fit exercising into your busy schedule? If so, please post your tips in the comments section!
