The Truth About Exercise and Why Its Not Always Good for You!
Exercise is often regarded as a panacea for many things..."if you want to lose weight, you must exercise"; "if you want to get those feel good endoprhins racing, take some exercise"; "if you want to help with stress, you should take up exercise".
All of this may be true but there are times when exercise is NOT a good thing and should be undertaken with caution or proper supervision. A good example of this is stress. Although exercise is often promoted as a means to work off all your stress, physiologically exercise actually puts stress on your body.
What happens when you get stressed about something? You might start to sweat; your heart races; your blood pressure goes up; you breathe a little heavier....what happens when you exercise? You sweat, your heart pumps faster, you breathe harder. Physically, your body's response to exercise is exactly the same response to a stressful situation.
So if you are in a stressed or even 'distressed' state and this has been the case for a while, your body will have been placed under enormous pressure to maintain its equilibrium (also called homeostasis) throughout this period. If you then add exercise to the mix, the additional stress that exercise puts on your body may just push it to breaking point. Your immune system could shut down and make you susceptible to illness, your blood pressure may rise dangerously high and you may feel dizzy or nauseous because your heart is struggling to pump blood fast enough to your muscles and brain.
And for the guys wanting to pump iron and bulge those biceps, if you are stressed (either from work or even from a cardio workout), you will have cortisol - a stress hormone - pumping round your blood. Cortisol inhibits the production of testosterone - another key hormone that is needed for muscle growth. If you pump iron with cortisol in your blood, your ability to produce testosterone is limited and you'll therefore be wasting your effort to bulk up your muscles. So if you've just done an aerobic workout and stressed your body and then go into the weights room, you're not going to see as much progress as you think you should.
But.....I do NOT want to put anyone off exercise, especially aerobic exercise that helps to keep your heart & lungs healthy. In fact, as a personal trainer that's the last thing I want to do!
Exercise can be a great stress reliever and the perfect way to wind down after a day of frustration but if you are stressed - and by this I mean truly & physically stressed out - try and de-stress first with some relaxation and meditation, before placing your body under any more stress with 10km on the treadmill. And if you want to build bigger muscles, don't do any aerobic exercise in the same workout - or even on the same day - as a resistance workout.
And if all else fails and you are unsure when and how to exercise safely, consult a fully qualified and registered exercise professional.
Lea Woodward is a qualified personal trainer in the UK. She runs a health & fitness company, activOne, that provides personal training, massage therapy and training resources to other personal trainers see http://www.activone.co.uk
Related Articles:
Daily Weight Loss Motivation
When you are faced with the daily challenge of trying to lose weight, you will need to find ways to stay motivated every day. The factors that keep weight loss motivation high include your specific goals, your ability to envision what you want to achieve, and the degree of success you have in the beginning.
Colon Cleansing Diet: How To Construct A Cleansing Plan For Your Colon
The time has come in your life to live more sensibly. You may be suffering from fatigue, joint pain, diarrhea, or constipation. A trip to the doctor reveals that the problem is a colon overburden with waste products that have never exited the body and have become toxic. This is a serious problem; you could be carrying upwards of 5 pounds of poison in your colon. Fast food must take its rightful place in your past. The future holds a tastier, beneficial diet plan for your future. A colon cleansing diet will give you back some of your lost energy and lessen or eliminate the pain in your joints. Trips to the bathroom will no longer be a trial.
The Importance Of Accountability In Maintaining A Weight Loss Routine
When engaging in any sort of behavioral change, it is vital to the success of the endeavor that you develop some sort of system of accountability. When you know that you have to report your daily habits, your tendencies will tend to be modified.
Achieving Successful Exercise Fitness
The hardest part about starting any exercise fitness routine is trying to fit it in with your current everyday life. You may find that you already don't have enough time in the day when you consider work commitments, family commitments, shopping and everything else you need to do each and every day.
HealthStyles Exercise Equipment Adds Another Premier Facility to Their Commercial Sales Portfolio
HealthStyles Exercise Equipment is proud to announce the addition of the Lakota Canyon Ranch Recreation Center to their commercial client list. Lakota Canyon Ranch is a growing community located 10 miles west of Glenwood Springs, featuring an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Nationally Renowned James Engh.
For Effective Weight Loss - Curb Hunger And Avoid The Binge
Curb Hunger and Avoid The Costly BingeEveryone's been there - you miss a meal or you
are getting used to a lower calorie phase of
your nutrition plan when the munchies hit. You
grab the nearest and quickest food available -
usually a high carb snack food - and you chow down.
New Weight Loss Program -- How to Make Your Diet Work
This is a continuation of the article entitled, "Making Diets Work." In the original article, I introduced the concept of Diet ShockTM and its role in weight regain.
Free Healthy Diet Plans For Your Kids? Well-being
Child obesity is on the rise in the United States. As a matter of fact, it?s been a growing problem for quite a few years now. Several of the factors that play into this predicament are the ever-popular ?supersizing? of everything ? and not just the items at the fast food chain. Households where both parents work and the kids don?t have enough healthy foods to snack on when they?re home alone contribute to the problem, in addition to the lack of education our children are getting regarding healthy eating habits. With that said, one of best things you can do for your kids is to communicate with them and let them know what and why certain foods are good or bad for them. If you?re at a loss for words and/or information, start by obtaining one...
Finding The Right Weight Loss Program
Unfortunately, many of us find ourselves overweight and not really sure what are the best ways to lose weight. Finding the right weight loss program is something that many of us have tried over and over again, only to find that it is simply not working. Either it leaves us feeling like we are starved or we find ourselves craving the foods we enjoy - or we end up cheating. The key to finding the right weight loss program is to find a healthy diet plan and exercise to lose weight.
Weight Loss Secrets from Hollywood Movie Stars – LA Personal Trainer Speaks Out!
In the early nineties I had the opportunity to work with some of the most famous movie stars in the world. As a manager and personal trainer for Kathy Smith and her health club, I experienced first hand the secrets to the stars.
Are Healthy Eating And Regular Exercise Mission Impossible?
Today, there are plenty of weight-loss strategies that are guaranteed to backfire. And, each and everyone's body metabolism reacts differently to different fast weight loss programs and plans.
Read The Truth About Weight Loss And Weight Loss Patches
Weight Loss Patches In Dealing With Obese, Is It For Real?
A Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan
All overweight people yearn for some kind of dieting miracle ... something like Cinderella's fairy godmother who will wave her magic wand and produce an instantly slim body. Alas, this isn't going to happen. Instead, seek a healthy weight loss diet plan instead. The multi billion dollar weight loss industry is loaded with all kinds of illusions. Here is the truth about some of the most popular ones.
The only way to lose weight
The Only Way to Lose weight
New Website Helps Deliver Rock Solid Weight Loss Information
Inspired by bodybuilding expert Anthony Reason, the popular new web site, www.AnthonyReason.com, is showing men and women of all ages how to develop a great body with interval weight training.
