Let's MOVE...and not move.

Ok...so I tell my clients that hundreds of years ago it is estimated that our ancestors would walk, climb, jog, MOVE approximately 20 miles per day for food, protection, and shelter. Our bodies were created to move forward. We were created for this type of existence. America's problem? Our survival no longer depends on us working so hard physically (at least most of us).

Also, modern day electricity keeps us up at night.

The more I read about fitness, the more I realize how important sleep is to our health. 7.5-9 hours is recommended to allow your body adequate time to rebuild. And when you are ripping up your muscles daily with hard strength routines, your body begs for that rest. Adequate sleep is good for our muscles and good for our metabolism.

But the main topic of this post is to discuss how we can move more. When clients come to me and they ask for a good weight loss program, I give it to them. Of course, it's different for every individual, but there are some commonalities too. One of my main recommendations is that you begin by strength training every major muscle group 3x per week. As one progresses in their fitness, we can't fit every muscle group into a 1 hour session, so they work that muscle group more intensely but fewer times than 3x per week. However, the recommendation is to strength train (not every muscle group) about 3-4 x per week. And do at least 4 days of cardio. Well, you do the math...4x strength, 4x cardio...THERE ARE NOT 8 DAYS IN A WEEK! And even if there were, we need 1 (sometimes 2) rest days in our week. So the biggest complaint of my normal clients (you know...busy moms, worker bees) is that they don't have time to exercise 8 hours/week.

So let's brain storm ways we can just add movement into our days.
*Evening exercise/play sessions with kids.
*Evening bike ride with family.
*Dance parties (yes, I have toddlers)
*My grocery store is a 2 minute drive away. I easily walk there.

One thing I mourn is that so many times when I "prescribe" exercise to my clients, it takes them away from their family. Let's find ways to add our family into our exercise....and yes, sometimes we have to get up before everyone else does to get some intense work in.

Have a healthy day!