By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

July 1, 2019

I urge all of my patients and readers to participate in regular physical activity. But not all of them follow that advice.

One of the biggest complaints I hear is “I don’t have enough time.”

Baloney! If you have enough time to watch TV, check social media, talk and text with friends – or whatever else you do with your time – then there is certainly a way to block off 15 to 30 minutes of your day to save your health… and your life.

Next on the list are the doubters. “I’m too old… too fat… too out of shape.”

These are much more reasonable excuses. Except for one thing.

Most of these patients aren’t nearly as old or rundown as they seem to think they are!

While a few of them are actually in their 70s and 80s, most of them aren’t even close to their senior years. Some of them are only in their 40s and 50s. But by far, the largest group of my doubter patients is in their 60s.

This is way too young to start giving up! And now I have some very solid and powerful evidence to help persuade these relatively young patients to forget their fears and get active.

Imagine this.

You are 70 years old. You’re obese. Out of shape. Then someone offers to support you through a 10-week vigorous-intensity interval training exercise program, three times a week.

Well, that happened for a small group of lucky men and women living in Sweden.

These folks started out exercising for 18 minutes a day, three times a week, with 40 second exercise intervals and 20 second rest intervals. Over the weeks, they worked their way up to 36 minute sessions of greater duration and intensity.

Another group of 70-year-old obese individuals didn’t participate in the program.

After the end of ten weeks, guess what the results were?

That’s the glory of high-intensity-interval training, or HIIT.

You don’t have to be fit to get started. All you need to be able to do is move your body.

And if a group of obese, out of shape septuagenarians can successfully do it, you can do it too!

Get Amazing Results Starting with Just 30 Minutes a Day

For patients who are extremely overweight or out of shape, all I ask them to do is start walking for 30 minutes a day.

I tell them:

“Walk briskly for about 30 seconds, then slow down for three or four minutes to recover your breath. Once your breathing is back to normal, start walking briskly for another minute or two. Then slow down again. Repeat this process throughout your walk.

“As it becomes easier, try increasing the intensity and shortening your rest time. (i.e., 30 seconds of walking faster each session, followed by lesser and lesser minutes of easy walking.)”

Now I’ll be honest with you. Some of my heavier patients and those who are less fit have to struggle in the beginning. They huff, puff and sweat their way through it.

But for those who push themselves and followed through, the results are amazing.

Once they start losing weight and gaining strength, they are able to change the brisk walk to a slow jog. Over time, many even find themselves working into sprints.

Then, in what seems like no time at all, it becomes easy for them to move forward to more difficult exercises, like squats, lunges and pushups. (The same rules apply to these activities… exercise for 30 seconds, take a short break… then repeat several more times, increasing intensity with each session.)

The weight starts melting off. They start feeling younger and healthier. Their metabolism, cardiovascular health and lung power improve by leaps and bounds. In a matter of months, they look younger and more vibrant than they have in years.

Many of my patients swear that HIIT saved their lives. And I believe them. I can see it not only in their newly regained vitality, but also in their work-ups.

I urge you to get approval from your doctor and then do yourself a favor… get moving!

SOURCES:

Ballin M, et al. Effects of Interval Training on Visceral Adipose Tissue in Centrally Obese 70-Year-Old Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print]

American Geriatrics Society. “How interval training affects ‘belly fat’ in obese 70-year-olds.” ScienceDaily. May 2019.