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It can feel overwhelming to take your first steps in a journey to better health by becoming more physically active. In all honesty, it's sometimes overwhelming continuing along that path. We have to see it as a lifelong pursuit that really has no end point. What we do have to look forward to is the day that healthy behaviors become second-nature as the new normal way of life. In order for that behavioral change to become a sustainable reality, we need to acquire the sills and the will to continually practice and refine them. Building behavioral change is similar to acquiring skills, especially physical, motor skills. There's going to be some error in the learning process and we have to be OK with that from the beginning. Every journey has its ups and downs, and every skill takes a lot of trial and error to develop. Thus, we need to start the journey with the understanding of the grace and discipline spectrum. The "all or nothing" mindset and hard-nosed discipline is what most of us approach exercise with. Even those who really don't enjoy exercise are often more inclined to, "Go hard or go home." and, "Get it done and over with." No one wants to waste their time, so we typically forget to give ourselves some slack and the grace to not be perfect. Striking the balance between grace and discipline is ultimately what will lead to that automatic, lifelong behavior that will enhance the duration and quality of the lives we lead from every perspective.
So, where do we start? Exercising, dieting, meditation, sleeping habits, and the many other healthy lifestyle behaviors that can improve our quality of lives - what's best to start with?! Can we build them all at once? Certainly, it takes an individual approach to prioritizing what aspect of our wellbeing needs addressed most urgently. For most, exercise can be one of the easiest habits to maintain if we give ourselves the time to build the skillsets of appropriately dosing the modes of exercise and the self-awareness of our physical fitness and health. Frequently now we've heard research state the importance of physical activity on cognition, mood, and emotional, mental well-being. Simply finding the very will to want to behave differently, in whatever capacity, can be enhanced from moving our bodies. An internet sensationalist and popular neuroscientist professor says, "It is very difficult to control the mind with the mind..." and "When your mind is not where you want it to be, look to the body." The direct effects of living a more active life and taking on the occasional physical challenge will help push forward every other healthy state of body and mind and our pursuits of wellness and happiness.
Myokines are the neurostransmitting compounds that are released by our muscles during physical activity which signal other chemical communicators to release and rebuild our brains and bodies. In more recent research we're being able to isolate and identify the compounds' various effects as well as break down the types of activities that promote their production. Different activities and intensities of exercise will elicit the release of different levels of and types of these myokines. From what we can tell, it is important to include as much variety into your movement routine as possible, though there does have to be the [dare I say] frequent elements of challenge and effort.
Developing an individually-specific exercise prescription usually involves a detailed process of risk stratification, signed consent, medical clearances, and pre- and post-physical screenings. Using open-ended questions and what's known as motivational interviewing will help us decipher ideas of what it is a person will want out of their lifestyle and what they'll need from their exercise routine to achieve that. Asking about history of activity and exercise and associated likes and dislikes will help identify what is enjoyable for them, which is an undeniably vital factor for improving the chances a person will stick with it. Through proper screening, we can identify what it is that the person needs from the health and human performance objectives. For some, these are fairly easy to self-assess from a wider, more subjective lens. Are you fairly active with a healthy body weight, but still have hypertension? Perhaps adding some new exercise and nutritional habits both have to be prioritized together. Have you been told you have osteopenia or osteoporosis? Well, weight-bearing exercise and resistance training need to be moved to the top of your priorities for exercise. Have you been including resistance training and eating better but you still cannot seem to lose weight? Maybe some stress management techniques or sleep studies might be appropriate.
There are many paths to follow toward creating a healthier lifestyle and, in most cases, the path we take will need to be adjusted for uncontrollable obstacles. What matters most is that we make pivots rather than stops, and that we continue to address the those things we can control!
Below you'll find the base recommendations for the various modes of exercise that we need to engage in as the "apparently healthy adult" population. Included are the nitty gritty details of how much and how often we want to be accumulating aerobic activity and resistance and flexibility exercise into our weekly routines. Contact me if you need help strategizing or building your action plan!
General ACSM Guidelines on Physical Activity and Public Health·
Moderate intensity aerobic (endurance) physical activity for a minimum of 30 minutes on 5 days / week, OR
vigorous intensity aerobic activity for a minimum of 20 minutes on 3 days / week, OR
a combination of moderate and vigorous intensity activity to meet the above recommendations, AND
perform activities that maintain or increase muscular strength and endurance on a minimum of two days per week.
Specific ACSM Guidelines for Aerobic, Resistance, and Flexibility Training
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