Should I do cardio or strength stuff for health?

Getting back into shape? Looking to keep off the winter weight? What are you going to do? These are all common questions people have when beginning or restarting their health journey. Unfortunately these questions are often what stop people from beginning as they don't want to do the wrong things or become overwhelmed by the loads of opinions and information the internet provides. This article is intended to give you a good starting spot and answer some common questions you may have.

• One of the most common questions I get is how to get into shape?

  • This largely depends on what your goals are! Do you want to lose weight? Become stronger? Obtain endurance? 
    • To lose weight and lean up you want to focus on long durance, short intensity. This requires burning fat as your bodies main source of energy. This is done by keeping your heart rate relatively low for an extended period of time. An example of this would be walking on the treadmill for greater than 3 minutes. 
    • The key to safely become stronger is to avoid the rule of "too's." Lifting too heavy with too little conditioning. Too much lifting with too little rest. These are great ways to end up injured and slow your progress even further. 
    • You want to start at a comfortable weight and gradually work your way up. Your reps and sets should be right around 3-5 sets with 6-12 reps. 

• One of the key principles behind how best to care for your body's fitness – is variation. 

  • Often times people plateau is because their body gets used to the exercises and demand placed on it. To continue to grow and develop physically is to consistently challenge yourself. 
  • Variation puts your muscles and cardiovascular system through multiple types of stress during a single exercise session. Just as it's easy to fall into a rut mentally with regard to your fitness routine, it seems the body falls into a similar rut in progress when the routine is static. The body's adaptation to multiple levels of intensity and stress is what creates well-rounded fitness.  

Let's wrap this up...

• If you are constantly doing steady-state cardiovascular exercise, you should introduce challenging resistance exercise to complement the long periods of elevated heart rate.  If you are only doing strength exercises, and no cardio, you need to introduce regular cardio exercise into your routine.
• Ask yourself what you want to achieve... center your workout around that goal, this is a great way to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
  • No matter what you choose for your health, getting out and moving is always going to benefit you. 
• Shake things up, and try something new! Variation is a great way to challenge the body and avoid plateau's. 
• NOTE!
  • Nothing derails fitness goals like an injury, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the movements by consulting with a professional who is trained to teach them. If you're unfamiliar with certain movements, ask a pro! This will keep you safe and injury-free.

If you have any questions or want to first become pain free? Give us a call! Our doctors are always happy to help out. To schedule an appointment call us or go online.

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Gallatinvalleychiropractic.com