Category Archives: Exercise

“Exercise may be the single most potent medical intervention ever known.”

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“Exercise may be the single most potent medical intervention ever known.”

—Derek Thompson, in an interview with Euan Ashley

Image from Unsplash by Carl Barcelo

As with all medical advice, you may want to consult your physician before reading further.

Today’s quote is based on an interview between Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine, genetics and data science at Stanford University, and Derek Thompson.

Beyond the many listed benefits of exercise, perhaps the boldest statement from their discussion was “One minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life.”

Under this assumption, doing one hour of exercise, four days a week for forty years would buy someone four years and nine months of extra life.

The data for this calculation is based on a population of more than half a million people who were followed over ten years.

People who exercised at higher intensity were shown to get seven or eight minutes of extra life.

EXERCISE:

How would adding more exercise to your daily routine improve how you look, feel, and live?

What would you have the time to do with the extra years you gain?

Seek opportunities to be more active

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Seek opportunities to be more active.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Anupam Mahapatra

We all know exercise does a body good. Here are some benefits you may already know, and perhaps a few you don’t:

    • Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss.
    • Exercise combats health conditions and diseases including stroke, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, type two diabetes, depression, anxiety, arthritis, and many types of cancer.
    • Exercise improves your mood and boosts your energy.
    • Exercise promotes better sleep
    • Exercise can help put the spark back in your love life for both men and women.
    • Exercise can expand your connections with family and friends.

EXERCISE:

In what ways can and will you introduce more opportunities to be more active each day?
Consider checking out the Mayo Clinic for more information.

Slow movements help slow the mind

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“Slow movements help slow the mind, so it can enjoy its reunion with the body.”

—Therese Jornlin, therapist and transformational coach

Image from Unsplash by Jose Vazquez

Over the past several months, I’ve added the CALM app’s “daily move” to my morning routine. With the years adding up, I’ve found these 5-7 minute exercises helpful in soothing my creaky joints and  muscles.

Many of the movements — based on  yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong — have helped me enter my day with greater energy and focus.

EXERCISE:

Where and how could you include various forms of slow movement to your day and benefit from the reunion of your mind and body?

Consider trying CALM‘s daily move for yourself and let me know what you think.

“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

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“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

—Michael Pollan

Image from Unsplash by Diana Polekhina

Did you do it again this year? Have you announced to the world or perhaps just spoken quietly to yourself that this is the year you will definitely lose weight and get in better shape? Physical distancing and working from home these past two years have made this goal extra challenging.

The quote above sounds so simple but as we all know it is far from easy. Countless external and internal factors can cause us to slip, slide, and fall off our health habits around mid-February only to promise ourselves to give it another go tomorrow, next week, after a vacation we deserve, or next January.

EXERCISE:

Check out Ju Young Kim’s impressive article entitled Optimal Diet Strategies for weight loss and weight lost maintenance. I will be happy to send you a copy if you email me at barry@dempcoaching.com. If time is limited, just post today’s quote on your fridge.

What is your body of work? Focus on Cumulative Output

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“What is your body of work? Focus on Cumulative Output.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Anupam Mahapatra

Do you or someone close to you use a FitBit or similar device to measure your daily steps? For many, getting 10,000 steps in each day can be an obsession.

In the past few years the standing desk and even the treadmill desk that rolls along at a slow pace have been introduced to help people increase their daily activity.

Beyond your daily physical activity, where and on what do you spend your days? What small, modest, daily efforts have you been accumulating to create your personal and professional body of work or life resumé?

EXERCISE:

Please reply to this post with a few of the worthy efforts that represent your body of work.

How have these actions become the foundation of the legacy you wish to offer the world?

I hope others in your various communities appreciate your efforts and that you fully enjoy the process and cumulative output.

“You cannot outrun your fork.”

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“You cannot outrun your fork.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Google

Over the first two weeks of September, Wendy and I had a bucket list adventure with friends. This included visiting Greece, and a 10-day cruise titled “Extreme Israel.”

On most days we walked, hiked, and even climbed around ancient sites and got in plenty of steps.

Upon arriving back on the ship, we were treated to top-notch cuisine provided by the Azamara Cruise Line staff. As you might guess, our forks more than made up for our extreme daily effort, resulting in a few extra pounds and some tighter-fitting clothing!

EXERCISE:

How can you more fully optimize the balance of your nutritional and exercising efforts to improve your health and remain active for many adventurous years to come?

Does running late count as exercise

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“Does running late count as exercise?”

—Author Unknown

image of a digital watch

Image from Unsplash by Jens Kreuter

Along with optimal rest and nutrition, exercise completes the trifecta for healthy living. Adequate exercise – which includes aerobics, strength training, and flexibility activities –  provide all sorts of benefits to enhance our physical, mental, and even emotional well being.

On the other hand, running late and the stresses induced by this over-adrenalized state bathe our system with cortisol and other chemicals that can have serious, negative consequences over time.

EXERCISE:

Consider adding more buffer and free time in your days. Take the approach of being more focused and effective on fewer priority matters.

Feel free to reply to this post regarding how such strategies help you live a healthier, happier, and more productive life.

We learn by pushing ourselves

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“We learn by pushing ourselves and finding out what lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.”

—Josh Waitzkin, American chess prodigy and author

Image of a man doing a handstand on the beach

Image from Unsplash by JanFillem

Did you know that only about one in five people meet the total recommended amount of exercise?

Of particular relevance is renewed interest in strength and resistance training. The stretching and stresses on our muscles cause micro-tears in the tissue, which then actually heals and grows even stronger.

This growth and increase in muscle mass has the added benefit of increasing your metabolism by up to 15%. That helps with weight loss, or at least a reduction in body fat.

EXERCISE:

In what areas of interest would a few more cerebral push-ups help you stretch and grow beyond your current perceived abilities?

The soul is placed in the body

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“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond and must be polished or the luster of it will never appear.”

—Daniel DaFoe, 17th Century British author of Robinson Crusoe

Scene at a gym

Image from Unsplash by Victor Freitas

Do you exercise on a regular basis? If so, you are probably very familiar with push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and other activities that help maintain and develop greater fitness and vitality.

Consider the concept of a “soul-up,” in which you engage in daily mental, emotional, and spiritual activities. To do so would bring out even more of your inner brilliance, letting it shine throughout your personal and professional communities.

EXERCISE:

Imagine entering a “soul-lustering” boot camp over the next 12 weeks. What drills, exercises, and other activities would your inner drill sergeant take you through to be more soulful, healthy and fit, fully ready to take on each and every new day?

Anger is an Acid

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“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

—Author Unknown

dark image of a man's fractured face

Image from Flickr by katmary

Research has shown that angry outbursts have a damaging effect on the heart, and increases the risk of a heart attack twofold.

This seems to be the case with expressed as well as repressed anger, when we try to hold it in.

Other harmful aspects of anger include the risk of stroke, and a weakening of the immune system, diminishing the body’s ability to protect itself and heal.

EXERCISE:

Consider any or all of the following strategies to reduce or perhaps even prevent anger’s harmful effects.

  1. Breathing Exercises
  2. Muscle Tensing Exercises
  3. Doing #1 and #2 Together!
  4. Meditation
  5. Exercise and Physical Activity
  6. Time in quiet, natural surroundings