Exercise Article
Exercise Article
Alright, I get it. You hate exercise. But when you think about it, aren’t there times in your life where you’ve been sweatin’ like a pig, burnin’ calories like newspaper in a bonfire, and you didn’t even realize that you were exercising? That’s the key. What you do for exercise needs to be something that you enjoy…..at least a little bit. It could be a sport, slow burn, weights, jogging, mall-walking, aerobics, jazzercise, dance, martial arts, trampoline, or running from lions in Africa. I don’t care if it’s just putting on some music that you love, and then start gettin’ jiggy with it. (For those of you over 50, that means, “get dancing.”) If I was forced to give a short list of conventional exercises that are the most beneficial, while being lower impact & gentle on the body, then I’d say:
1. Swimming
2. Elliptical machine/Nordic Track
3. Circuit training with weights
4. Bicycling
5. Hiking
6. Fast-walking
7. Unicycling while juggling 5 lb. weights
Now, let’s talk about stretching, just a little bit. Something that I try to hammer home to all my patients in my Chiropractic practice is that, “Motion is the key to joint health.” The truth is, motion is the key to all kinds of stuff. When we talk about flexibility, remember the old adage, “Move it or lose it.” It’s true. If you’re body does not get motion, it loses the range of motion that God intended you to have. To get technical, the ligaments that hold joints together experience something called “creep” when they are not being used. This means that they shorten and pull the joint closer together, which restricts the range of motion. To put it plainly, you get tight, or as they say in the country, “you get all stove up.” You can do anything from simple floor stretches to other methods like yoga, tai chi and Pilates.
When it comes to losing weight, exercise not only helps you to burn calories when you’re actually exercising, but helps to change your metabolism. This means that as you exercise, you’ll begin to burn calories when you are at rest more than if you didn’t exercise. You can lose weight much faster and safer when you are exercising.
Exercise also affects so many other areas of your health and your life. When you exercise, you will get tons of energy that you haven’t had before. You’ll wake up more refreshed because you will get more restful sleep. You will feel better about yourself because you will like what you see in the mirror, but you will also be producing endorphins, enkephalins and dynorphins, which are the body’s natural pain killers. You will also produce other neurotransmitters in the brain that give you a greater sense of well-being. You will get the strength to help you do everything you need to do, from arm wrestling to Zebra wrestling. (Very common in Zimbabwe) As the muscle fibers develop and muscles get stronger, you’ll have stronger ligaments and tendons too, which helps prevent injury. Did I mention you’d get the ripped abs you always wanted? (With proper diet and nutrition) Your spine and all the joints in your body will be more durable and less likely to get injured or misaligned. You will cleanse your body by sweating as the skin empties toxins from all your systems when you start drippin’ with sweat. (I realize that women glisten, and men sweat...my wife made me aware of this.) Exercise should and needs to be a part of your weekly schedule. Make time for it. You’ll be glad you did!
“Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body." -1 Corinthians 7:19
In Health and in Him,
Dr. Mark Shannan