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Staying on Track During the Winter Months
It’s so easy to fall off track with respect to healthy routines this time of year.
The excuses come from all directions. I’m too busy. The weather is too cold. The sky is grey and they are calling for snow.
As the daylight decreases at this time of year so does the motivation to stay active.
It’s so easy to fall off track with respect to healthy routines this time of year.
The excuses come from all directions. I’m too busy. The weather is too cold. The sky is grey and they are calling for snow.
As the daylight decreases at this time of year so does the motivation to stay active.
With that said here are my top 5 tips to stay on/or get back into a good exercise routine right now.
Motivation is temporary, find your why instead - Watching an inspirational video is good but that feeling will wane. Get solid on the reason why you want to exercise. Is if for your health? To be the best at something? To run your first 10k this summer? To be able to keep up with your kids? When your purpose is clear, you won’t need motivation.
Schedule it in - The North American lifestyle doesn’t allow for much downtime, and when you do get it it’s unlikely that you will have the energy to exercise. Make sure you carve out time during your week for it. Right now, grab your phone and plan out the days and times you are going to commit. Do not compromise.
Get it out of the way - Leading in from the last point, there are distractions everywhere. Another phone call, email, housework, kids, etc. Get it done early so you can clear your mind. If not you will be telling yourself “I will work out later” which translates to not getting to it anytime soon.
Consistency is key - Commit to a schedule that is achievable. You don’t have to go 0 to 100 in a week. Build a strong foundation on a routine that you can complete and stay on track. Add on when you are following through a few weeks in a row.
Make it fun - Exercise can be fun too! Incorporate things that you like to do and look forward to. For me it’s cycling, for you it may be hiking, enrolling your dog in agility classes, or going for a skate with family or friends.
Cardio... You Are Doing It Wrong!
You get to the gym, hop on a treadmill, turn on your headphones, turn off your brain, and just go.
It’s just that easy right?
(insert buzzer sound here)
You know exercise is good for you and that you should train with cardio to improve the health of your heart. But when done incorrectly it can be detrimental.
You get to the gym, hop on a treadmill, turn on your headphones, turn off your brain, and just go.
It’s just that easy right?
(insert buzzer sound here)
You know exercise is good for you and that you should train with cardio to improve the health of your heart. But when done incorrectly it can be detrimental.
Over the last few years a new type of training called H.I.I.T. (high intensity interval training) has become popular as a replacement for traditional cardio. With short high intensity bursts and rest periods in between, H.I.I.T. taxes components of your cardiovascular system and shed calories fast.
HIIT is great but there is still a place for traditional cardiovascular exercise.
With that being said let’s address some concerns with traditional cardio exercise.
Long term exercise with sustained elevated heart rate may lead to, changes in the heart and irregular beats.
Chronic cardio puts your body into a stressed state called fight or flight. When this happens normal regulatory systems like your immune system, digestive system etc. are down regulated. Cortisol (the stress hormone) increases as well.
Finally most people train within the black hole. This is when the body is taxed hard enough to deplete energy stores but not enough to elicit a significant training response. This is the same exercise we do over and over because we feel comfortable doing it.
Anyone who has ever trained for a race or for health is guilty of this.
The main thing that you need to change and monitor with your cardio is your intensity. The way you monitor it is not done by speed, or incline but with heart rate.
The below principles should be used as a guideline whether you are on a stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical or training outside.
80-90% of cardio exercise should be done long and slow. A great book on this topic is called Primal Endurance. Their method is simple, and it builds your aerobic capacity but it won’t be at the expense of chronically depleting your energy and causing burn out.
To do this simply use this formula; 180 - your age = Heart rate threshold. This heart rate threshold is what you want to keep your heart rate under while you train.
The last 10-20% of your training should be done more intense than you would normally train ie. black hole training. This means sprints, HIIT training, hill work. Basically you will be doing short bursts with long breaks trying to spike your heart rate higher than your normal training. *Always check with your primary physician to make sure you are cleared to do this first.
Another way to monitor the toll your exercise is taking on your body with with Heart Rate Variability (HRV). If you are planning to train for any type of endurance race this year, you should consider measuring this consistently. I will be happy to give you more insight on HRV the next time I see you in person.
Should You Sit On An Exercise Ball?
The trend of swapping your office chair for an exercise ball seems to be fading a bit. However, many patients still ask me if it is beneficial to sit on an exercise ball rather than a chair. The exercise ball is an unstable surface that in theory should lead to increased trunk movement which aids in the nutrition of your muscles and vertebral discs and increases the activity of your core musculature. There are other proposed benefits as well, but let’s find out if they outweigh the negative side effects.
A 2009 study published in the journal Applied Ergonomics, researchers compared an adjustable office chair with armrests to an exercise ball while the participants did a one hour typing task. The chair and the ball were fit to the subject’s body size so when sitting their knee angle was 90 degrees. As hypothesized by the authors they found 33% more global trunk motion when sitting on the exercise ball (not found to be significant). They also found the average rate of change of lumbar EMG and amplitude of lumbar spine muscles to be 66% and 38% higher when on the ball. Although increased spinal movement and muscle activation are good for spine health, they also increase forces on the spine, which can have detrimental effects on the intervertebral discs. To test this, the authors looked at the compressive forces on the spine and found that spinal shrinkage was significantly greater when sitting on an exercise ball than the office chair. Another implication of increased muscle activity is that it can lead to muscle fatigue which can increase your susceptibility of low back injury.
Another study by McGill published in 2006 in Applied Biomechanics, looked at pressure distribution. Comparing an exercise ball, an office chair, and a stool they found that the surface contact area was significantly greater with the exercise ball. The increased contact area actually increases the level of discomfort when sitting on the ball. This is because the soft tissue is now absorbing the pressure of sitting, when it should be on the boney part of your butt!
In conclusion, although there seem to be benefits of sitting on an exercise ball, the benefits are outweighed by the significant negative effects to your spine. For this reason use a traditional office chair at work or utilize an exercise ball for short periods at a time to limit the shrinkage of your spine!
Stay healthy my friends,
Dr. Adam