Get Moving: Reasons to Renew Your Fitness Resolutions This Spring

Let’s flash back to January when we had high hopes of achieving our weight loss goals through diet and exercise and managed to maintain movement all month-long. But now that the New Year’s Resolution motivation has come and gone, many of us have officially fallen off track, especially with our fitness goals. One cheat day turns into three cheat days turns into zero movement at all. This is a main reason our expert Dr. Lana Kontos tells her clients not to make resolutions, but rather to make decisions to put their health first, all year long. If you aren’t exercising as much as you were when the year began, kick it up a notch with these tips from Dr. Lana and learn the reasons why you should really get moving!

Our bodies were built to move and the more we move the better we feel and the more we are doing for our physical and emotional health. Human beings moved their bodies daily thousands of years ago. They had to move to survive. It has only been in the last century that modern living has dramatically reduced the level of physical activity in humans.

The Benefits of Exercise:

• Better Digestion
• Better Sleep
• Better Endurance
• Improved Self Esteem
• Increased Energy
• Improved Balance
• Increased Flexibility
• Lower Cholesterol
• Increased Metabolic Rate
• Positive Attitude
• Improved Muscular Strength
• Stronger Bones
• Improved Coordination
• Reduced Depression
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Improved Mental Clarity and Alertness
• Improved Stamina
• Improves Breathing
• Cleans Toxins

In addition to all of those amazing mind-body-soul benefits, exercising regularly even improves lymph fluid movement which is the key to your immune system! As you breathe more deeply during exercise this cleans toxins out of your lungs and helps to act as a pump for your lymph system. The lymph fluid moving through the nodes actually cleanses them! Lymph nodes become swollen if they become congested with material that has been cleansed from your tissues. The pumping action of your muscles moving moves the lymph fluid through the nodes.

Now that you know the reasons to get moving here are some guidelines to follow to ensure you’re getting the most out of every movement you make.

Some Basic Guidelines for Movement:

You should aim to exercise 6 days a week for 30 to 45 minutes a day. You must break a sweat during your workouts to achieve maximum cardiovascular and lymphatic benefits. You don’t need to sweat like you’ve been in a sauna for hours or were training for the Olympics but you do need to perspire. You should exercise to the point where you need to jump in the shower and clean up before you go anywhere. Sweating removes toxins and excess hormones a great thing especially for women. Hate running? Try a dance fitness class. Just find something fun to do and do it.

Take the Talk Test:

The Talk Test is a great way to gauge whether or not you’re getting the most from your workout. This means you move, lift, walk, jog, run, exercise to the point where you can carry on a conversation with the person next to you but you would rather not. It’s here that you are in your zone. You can talk but you’d rather not.

Exercise is vitally important for disease prevention and to maintain optimal health. Congratulations on a wise choice to get your body moving. Remember: it’s never too late to start!