How to find time to exercise

A new year marks a great time to embrace change. Many people do just that by making resolutions designed to improve their lives in the year and years ahead. Resolutions regarding personal health are annually among the most popular changes people hope to make at the dawn of a new year. In fact, a quick scan of annual lists citing the most popular resolutions found that pledges to eat healthier and exercise more can be found at or near the top of such lists.

Though such lists might not have been compiled using the most scientific of methods, it’s no secret that getting healthier and looking better is a goal many people strive for upon the arrival of January 1. Unfortunately, a 2015 report from U.S. News & World Report suggested that 80 percent of resolutions fail, oftentimes as early as February. For those who don’t just want but need to get healthier, failure to live up to a resolution to exercise more can have potentially devastating consequences.

If exercising more is a goal in the year ahead, the following are a few strategies to make that happen.

• Exercise in the early morning. As the day progresses, unforeseen challenges or forgotten commitments have a way of devouring time initially earmarked for exercise. Exercise first thing in the morning before any commitments to work and family hijack the time you have committed to exercising.

• Take on less responsibility. Professionals and parents often cite commitments to work and family as the primary reasons they aren’t getting enough exercise. While those are perfectly reasonable excuses to skip a workout, men and women who recognize the long-term benefits of routine exercise may be compelled to take on less responsibility at work while also making an effort to divvy up responsibilities at home more equitably. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ongoing exercise can reduce risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and some cancers. The CDC also notes that routine exercise strengthens bones and muscles while improving mood. Taking on more responsibility at work might be great for your career, but that may prove a Pyrrhic victory if your long-term health is jeopardized. Parents can discuss with their spouse how to better share responsibilities at home so both moms and dads can get regular exercise.

• Embrace more efficient exercise routines. Rather than working a single muscle group at a time, which can be both time-consuming and boring, men and women can adapt their workout routines to focus on multi-muscle exercises. Work with a personal trainer to make your workout as efficient as possible.

• Schedule your routine each week. Each week is different, so while it may be ideal to establish a workout routine in which you exercise at the same time each day, that’s not always going to be possible. Failing to exercise on a day you had intended to workout can compromise your motivation to workout in the future, so sit down at the beginning of each week to examine your commitments for the days ahead and schedule times to exercise in the next seven days. This can keep you on track and help you avoid the disappointment of missing a workout because life got in the way.

Finding time to exercise is not always so easy, but even the busiest men and women can likely still include workouts in their daily routines.

How to improve flexibility

Improving flexibility is a goal for many athletes, whether they’re daily exercise devotees or weekend warriors. Taking steps to improve and maintain flexibility has numerous benefits that can pay dividends for athletes of all ages.

According to the Harvard Medical School, well-stretched muscles more easily reach their full range of motion. That benefits athletes by improving their performance, and it can also improve daily life for non-athletes by making it easier to reach, bend or stoop to perform everyday tasks.

As beneficial as being physically flexible can be, many people, no matter how hard they try, struggle to improve or maintain their flexibility. Fortunately, there are some ways that devoted men and women can improve their flexibility and enjoy all of the benefits that increased flexibility provides.

• Choose the right activities. Harvard Medical School notes that activities that lengthen and stretch muscles can help active men and women reduce their risks for injury while potentially preventing back pain and issues that may affect their balance. When done correctly, yoga can improve balance and flexibility. In addition, numerous studies have linked yoga to additional health benefits, such as stress reduction, that can make people less tense, thereby improving their flexibility.

• Drink more water. Drinking water helps to prevent tightness and muscle cramps. In fact, tightness or muscle cramps in the large muscles of the leg may be indicative of the early stages of dehydration. Drinking plain water is the most effective way to stay and remain hydrated. Don’t count coffee, tea or sports drinks as water, as such beverages many contain caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, and while diuretics cause the increased passing of urine, they also decrease the amount of water that is absorbed by the kidneys, potentially contributing to dehydration. Drink plenty of water before, during and after workouts.

• Start over after an extended break. If it’s been awhile since you last worked out, resist the temptation to push yourself when returning to the gym. Depending on how long it’s been since you last exercised, you may need to start back at square one, which means reducing the amount of weight you lift and decreasing the resistance during cardiovascular exercises. Putting too much strain on muscles that have been sedentary for an extended period of time can cause aches, pains and even injury. Muscle tightness also may develop if you go too hard too quickly, greatly reducing flexibility.

• Get up and go. Poor flexibility may be a byproduct of your lifestyle. Men and women who live sedentary lifestyles are less likely to enjoy the full range of motion from their muscles than those people who are more active. Get off the couch when spending time at home, and if you work in an office, take routine breaks to stand up and walk around. Poor flexibility can be painful and inconvenient, but there are many ways for men and women to improve their flexibility and, as a result, their quality of life.

Strength training important to women's health

Women’s bodies are built different from men’s to accommodate the changes of pregnancy and childbirth. Although women may store fat differently and have less muscle mass than men, it’s still important that women include weight resistance training in their exercise routines.

Lifting weights is an important part of staying fit. Yet many women do not pick up weights out of fear of bulking up and gaining weight. In a 2011 opinion poll conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 20 percent of women said they accomplished the CDC’s recommended 2.5 hours of aerobic exercise and two periods of strength training each week.

Contrary to popular belief, women who weight train will not turn into the bulking behemoths of competitive weight lifting. The Women’s Heart Foundation says that high levels of estrogen make it quite difficult for women to become overly muscular. When they strength train, rather, women’s muscles will improve in tone, endurance and strength instead of size.

Resistance training provides an efficient way to build strength and burn calories. A study from researchers at the University of New Mexico found that the body will take between 15 minutes and 48 hours after exercise to return to a resting state. That means that a person continues to burn calories after exercising, a phenomenon known as “after-burn” or “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.” The more intense the workout, the longer the after-burn may last.

Studies performed at the Quincy, Mass., South Shore YMCA found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle, but lose 3.5 pounds of fat. With that lean muscle addition, resting metabolism increases and more calories can be burned each day.

The following are some additional benefits of strength training:

• Reduces risk of heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol.

• Builds stronger muscles and connective tissues that can increase joint stability.

• Improves the way the body processes sugar, which can help reduce the risk of diabetes.

• Reduces rates of depression. A Harvard University study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counseling. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable. Women with no strength training experience can consult with a personal trainer who can teach them proper strength training form. This ensures that the exercises are being done efficiently while reducing the women’s risk of injury. Qualified trainers also can keep people moving toward fitness goals.  LS178211 SOCIAL MEDIA TEXT: Women’s bodies are built different from men’s to accommodate the changes of pregnancy and childbirth. Although women may store fat differently and have less muscle mass than men, it’s still important that women include weight resistance training in their exercise routines.

How to improve overall endurance

Pushing oneself physically can be exhausting and demanding. But whether you’re a seasoned athlete, a part-time fitness enthusiast or even someone who lives a largely sedentary lifestyle, you can find ways to dig down and improve your overall endurance. Many athletes find pushing their bodies past certain boundaries to be empowering. Letting complacency set in is easy, but finding the motivation to press on and push ahead takes mental determination. The following are a handful of ways to push past physical glass ceilings and improve endurance.

• Join a marathon. The statistics reporting site StatisticsBrain.com states that only 0.5 percent of the U.S. and Canadian populations have ever run a marathon. Running on the treadmill at the gym or a couple of miles around the track is excellent exercise. Runners can take their passion a bit further by enrolling in any of the hundreds of marathons and half-marathons held annually. Crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles is a rewarding feeling, and few activities do more to improve endurance than running a marathon.

• Try a new gym class. Pushing yourself physically may mean getting out of your comfort zone. Gyms typically offer an array of classes to appeal to as many members as possible. Take advantage of these group classes or personalized training sessions. Explore barre workouts, TRX® and ViPR®, which involve loaded movement and strength training paired with cardiovascular workouts.

• Increase workouts gradually. It can be daunting to think about greatly improving your endurance levels. But taking a gradual, incremental approach to improving endurance is both safe and effective. Also, when engaged, mentally divide the workout into smaller chunks of time. This way you have several smaller goals to accomplish, rather than one large goal. This can make it easier to digest a tough workout.

• Use friends to keep you motivated. Having friends workout alongside you can keep you motivated. Workout buddies may offer the encouragement necessary to keep pushing through. Another motivating factor is bragging rights afterward.

• Have a good emotional connection. A desire to have a great body may not be enough to motivate you to workout and push harder. If not, think of a better reason to exercise, and it may be the mind over matter you need. Many people find inspiration from family health history risk factors or through the goal of reversing negative health reports from doctors’ offices. These motivating factors will help you press on and push harder. Continuing to surpass fitness goals is something to include in this year’s list of health resolutions.