By James Lemire, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness
January 20, 2014
- Do your workouts leave you aching?
- My 4 favorite forms of exercise
- Quick tip to boost your lungpower
To kick off the New Year, Dr. Lemire is sharing his “5 R’s for optimal health.” The 5 R’s are the foundation of the program he uses at his clinic. And they offer a unique approach to helping you live a happier, healthier and longer life.
If you have been following my tips in the past few articles, I’ll bet you’re feeling a little more energetic these days. You may have even dropped a few pounds in the process.
Good for you! You’re embracing the New Year with panache and style that others can only dream of. And I’m glad you have allowed me to play a hand in the recent changes in your life.
Now it’s time to regenerate your entire body! Today I’m going to share some of my favorite forms of exercise with you. You’re also going to learn about a very special – and amazingly easy – exercise you probably haven’t tried yet.
When we were growing up, most of us got all of the exercise we needed. But back then, we didn’t call it exercise. We called it playing.
I think that’s an important distinction, because our adult view of exercise is often distorted. It brings visions of pounding workouts that leave your back and knees aching. (That may be why so many people resort to the old saying “no pain no gain!”)
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We all need plenty of exercise. Without it, our bodies would waste away. We would quickly become useless and our lives would be cut short.
But exercise shouldn’t be painful or damaging to your body.
Instead, it should be a healing process. Every movement should nourish and regenerate your body – and even your mind. It should also be something that is fun… something that motivates you.
My favorite forms of exercise are Tai Chi and Quigong. Both of these types of exercise have origins in China and involve gentle body movements, mental focus, and deep breathing.
Both Tai Chi and Qigong are low impact. Even people with arthritis, fibromyalgia and heart failure can do them. However, they still provide the advantages of more conventional forms of exercise. Each of them will improve bone health, cardiovascular fitness, balance and muscle mass.
Plus, they come with an added benefit.
Because of the mind-body connection these exercises incorporate, they also improve self esteem while reducing stress, anxiety, depression and moodiness.
Yoga is another great form of exercise that incorporates meditation and deep breathing techniques. And I like it much better than the idea of going to a gym when it comes to building strength.
Why? Well now, when you go to the gym and lift weights, all you do is build strength. But you don’t do anything to improve balance and flexibility. You also miss out on the mind-body connection that comes with yoga.
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Weigh the difference. Do you want strength alone? Or do you want strength, balance, flexibility, mental clarity and less stress in your life?
Pilates is a very low-impact type of exercise that uses your own body weight and specialized spring-loaded equipment to provide resistance. And it offers all of the benefits associated with traditional weight-bearing exercises. It builds muscle strength and lean body mass, improves endurance and flexibility, boosts lung power and reduces cardiovascular risk.
By the way, the inventor of this type of exercise was amazingly far ahead of his time. Joseph Pilates believed that modern lifestyle, poor breathing habits and bad posture were the cause of poor health. And this was back in the 1920’s!
What about aerobics? Today’s version of aerobics exercise involves pounding the pavement for a grueling run that jars your body from head to toe. And I can’t imagine it’s much fun to be stuck inside a gym, quickly running to nowhere on a treadmill. Given these options, it’s no wonder so many people don’t want to exercise!
Moving your body in a way that supports cardiovascular health should be natural and enjoyable.
What do I suggest? Walking, cycling, swimming, rowing and even dancing are all excellent ways to get a good aerobic workout.
You can even get a little extra punch out of these exercises if you incorporate alternate periods of high-intensity exercise with low-intensity recovery periods.
For example, walk at your normal pace, then speed up to a brisk walk for a minute or two. Go back to your normal pace until you’ve caught your breath and your heart rate slows. Then speed it up again. You can do this with any form of exercise.
Now I have just one more type of exercise to share with you. It goes hand-in-hand with all of the things we just talked about…
One thing that happens to people when they exercise is that they start breathing erratically. They don’t have enough lungpower to maintain a consistent breathing pattern.
Breath is life. And today most people use only about 8-10% of their lungpower when they breathe. So it’s not only a problem when it comes to exercise. It’s something we should think about with every breath we take.
When you breathe properly it helps your heart and lungs work more efficiently.
Breathing releases toxins from your body and improves circulation. Every breath you take massages internal organs like the stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestines. It’s also a great way to relieve stress, fuel your brain and clear the mind.
Proper breathing techniques should be practiced every day. And it’s pretty simple to do.
- Inhale through your nose and bring the air way down into your diaphragm. You should see your belly expand when you inhale.
- Then exhale the stale air from your body. This is also done through your nose (a lot of people tend to exhale through their mouths.) As the stale air leaves your body, your belly will contract.
- Stay relaxed throughout the process and don’t pause between the inhale or exhale. Just think of it as a continuous cycle of slow, deep and gentle breaths.
The more often you practice this, the stronger your lungs will become. You’ll have more energy, strength and stamina. And you’ll live a healthier and happier lifetime.
In my next issue I’m going to share the last of my 5 R’s for optimal health. It’s the final step in my program… and I know you don’t want to miss it!
Resources:
Wang C, Bannuru R, Ramel J, Kupelnick B, Scott T, Schmid CH. Tai Chi on psychological well-being: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2010; 10:23.
Rogers K, Gibson AL. Eight-week traditional mat Pilates training-program effects on adult fitness characteristics. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2009 Sep;80(3):569-74.
