Exercise

Research presented by Dr. Hamdy of the Joslin Institute for Diabetes Management on September 24, 2014:

We all know exercise has wonderful health benefits: abdominal fat decreases, systolic and diastolic blood pressure are reduced, lipids improve including increased HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol), reduced triglycerices and reduced LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), improved blood sugar and insulin control, long-term maintenance of weight loss, improved mood, better stress management, and better heart health.

So what’s holding us back? It might be the amount of time you work out. Research shows that people who exercise in short bursts multiple times per day (10 minutes increments) have better weight loss and do more exercise per week than people who exercise more than 40 minutes per session.

There are three main types of exercise and it is important to incorporate all three each day as they play different roles in your health and managing your diseases:

• Flexibility – Stretching, Yoga
• Aerobic – Walking, Swimming, Biking, Dancing, or Jogging
• Strength & Resistance – Resistance bands, free weights or weight machines, yoga

Which is most beneficial? Strength and resistance has shown the most benefit in maintaining muscle mass while trying to lose weight (people who did more strength and resistance training maintained 20% more muscle mass over 12 weeks than people who focused mostly on aerobic or stretching!). That being said, make sure not to move to all strength and resistance exercise! All three components should be present every day.

Ideal exercise each day is 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of brisk walking, dancing, swimming, or jogging, and 10-20 minutes of resistance training (yoga, weights, or resistance bands) split into several sessions.

I’m going to start trying to get in all of my exercise throughout the day on weekdays. Here’s my new exercise plan! What does your plan look like? Is there anywhere in your day that you can add in 5-10 minutes of one of these exercise types?

• Before work- Stretching for 10 minutes
• Beginning of Lunch Break- Brisk walk for 10 minutes
• End of lunch break- 5 minute dance party in my office! (Also GREAT for stress relief)
• Right after work: 10 minutes of resistance bands.
• Evening at home: 10 minutes workout video or free weights

By the time we leave work for the day we can have met our daily exercise recommendations!