Welcome to a new Edition of Carol’s Corner. Hope you enjoyed the last issue. Today’s picture I’m calling peaches and cream. I’ve been having fun nicknaming some of my outfit’s.This top is another thrift store purchase from last year. It matches these pants perfectly. If it was summer I have cloth shoes and sandals that would match this beautifully. Well one can hope. Winter has to end sometime soon.

Of course I have to have my FitBit combo. And my jewelry is a set I just took from my inventory for myself . It has been calling my name for quite sometime. I love it. It will be getting a lot of use later in the year.

Since we are talking about exercise I thought you might enjoy seeing my weekly stat report. Think this has to have been my best week , because I have really been stepping up my workouts. My March workout total stands at155 miles, which I think is my personal best and March isn’t over yet.

So we are going to continue with the topic and try to give you more information to use. I am going to start with material from health.gov and chapter 4 on active adults. Will post the link, because I am not going to use everything here, only parts of it and you can read all the info here from the link I will provide.

Adults who are physically active are healthier and less likely to develop many chronic diseases, than adults who are inactive. They also have better fitness, including a better body size and composition. I think composition is probably where exercise plays a key component for me. Even when my weight is up 3 or 4 pounds from my low, my clothes seem to fit great. I think exercise is a total must for me in every way. Adults gain most of these health benefits when they do the equivalent of 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week as I mentioned in yesterday’s post and is reiterated in this publication also. Adults gain even additional and more extensive health benefits with even more physical activity. I know my physical activity far exceeds the minimum guidelines. Before it was practically nonexistent. Muscle strengthening activities provide health benefits and are an important part of an adult’s overall physical activity plan. Everything I have read suggests strength training should be done twice weekly. I probably need to make more of an effort to do more of that. I’m going to have to make an effort to do my Firm 30 workout twice a week. Just have to figure out how to fit it in my already full schedule.

The chapter from this publication gives some guidelines to follow. It is meant for adult men and women aged 18-64. Gee I don ‘t plan on doing differently when this year ends. I was 64 in February and am in the best shape of my life. Whatever you don’t see here , can be read in the link I am providing here. http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/chapter4.aspx

It will focus on two types of activity: aerobic and muscle strengthening. Both have inportant health benefits. You will be able to click to the chaper that describes them. I won’t repeat everything I already told you and again you can refer to the link I provided you above.

AEROBIC ACTIVITY

We discussed aerobic activity yesterday so a good portion is repetitive and you can read some of the information in the link .

Aerobic activities, also called endurance activities, are physical activities in which people move their large muscles in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period. Running, brisk walking, bicycling, playing basketball, dancing and swimming are all aerobic activities. Walking and dancing are my aerobic activities. My walk workouts have both moderate and vigorous intensities, depending on the workout I am doing. Aerobic activity makes a person’s heart beat more rapidly to meet the demands of the body’s movement. Over time, regular aerobic activity makes the cardiovascular system stronger and fitter. I am quite sure mine has to be much stronger and fitter than it was before I started my journey.

All activity from your daily life can count toward your weekly totals. Do you walk or bike to work? They count toward your weekly goal. Is your occupation extremely active? That would go into your weekly total also. When you are putting your plan into action using the guidelines, consider the total amount of activity as well as how long to be active, for how long ,and at what intensity.

KEY GUIDELINE FOR ADULTS

1). All adults should avoid inactivity. Some is better than none and any amount of physical activity has some health benefits.

2). Yesterday I gave the amount of activity recommended so I won’t repeat it here, (read from the link provided if you need to, or my prior blog. Aerobic activity should be performed in at least episodes of 10 minutes, and preferably be spread throughout the week.

3) For additional and more extensive health benefits, adults should increase their aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes( 5 hrs) a week of moderate-intensity, or 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity or an equivalent combination of the two. I probably do at least double this amount presently.

4) Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities that are moderate or high intensity and involve all major muscle groups in 2 or more days per week. These provide additional health benefits. This is something I need to concentrate a little more on.

BENEFITS AT DIFFERENT ACTIVITY LEVELS

1) The equivalent of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity have substantial benefit including, lower risk of premature death, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and depression.

2) As a person moves from the 150 minutes to the 300 minutes(5hrs) a week, he or she gains additional health benefits. They include lower risk of colon and breast cancer and prevention of unhealthy weight gain.

3) Also as a person moves from the 150 minutes towards the 300 minutes a week, the benefits become more extensive. Examples of this would be that they would have an even lower risk of heart disease and diabetes than one who is only doing 150 minutes a week.

4) The benefits continue to increase when a person does more than 300 minutes a week. For example a person who does 420 minutes(7hrs) a week , has an even lower risk of premature death than a person who does 150-300 minutes per week. I am not quite at 700 minutes , but frequently am over 600 minutes. Current science doesn’t allow identifying an upper limit of total activity above which there will be no additional health benefits.

HOW MANY DAYS A WEEK AND FOR HOW LONG?

Aerobic physical activity should be spread throughout the week. Research studies consistently show that activity that is performed at least three days a week produces health benefits. Spreading it across at least three days a week may help avoid risk of injury and avoid excessive fatigue. I workout almost every day and that has been working well for me. My body let’s me know if I have to skip a day or if situations are such that I am not able, but I feel best working out every day whenever possible.

Both moderate and vigorous aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes. Episodes of this duration are known to improve cardiovascular fitness, and some risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. I prefer never to do less than 30 minutes at a time and most times do anywhere from 45-60 minutes and once in awhile 90 minutes at a time

Because it is almost 4 in the morning and I have to get up at 10 to watch my granddaughter , we will have to have a third installment tomorrow. We will pick up where we left off . There is so much information to be had , and as I said before, knowledge is power. So drop back in and see the next installment in what has turned out to be a series on everything exercise. Till next time, God Bless.