I’ve had quite a few patients inquiring about “the best” exercise program to begin and the choices are overwhelming. Just as the “exercise” varies so do the “bodies” performing them. So here goes my “one size-fits all” answer. And remember, your body has been “fearfully and wonderfully made!” so it won’t let you down!
The body thrives in what I call a “Start-Stop-Start” environment.
The practice of turning “on” and “off” our metabolic responses, healing, and immune responses, raising our heart rate up and down, changing temperatures and walking on an uneven ground all cause our nervous system and the rest of our body to pay attention and get in line!
Basically, we fire up our adaptation mechanism. Healing is a form of adaptation, as is learning, growing, exercise, and processing emotions. Adapt or die. Moderation will kill you.
Throughout the history of humankind, we’ve been subject to an ever-changing environment. Kill or be killed, survival of the fit (not fittest) and the constant need for adaptation ensured that the most capable people in dealing with stress and change carried on.
Fast forward to today and we live in very controlled environments that automatically manage our temperature, lighting, oxygen exposure, provide a flat and hard walking surface and a well-designed seat to make us as comfortable as possible for long periods of time with very little movement.
We now live in a manner opposite of how we developed to get here. The body does not like slow and steady, constant environments, they actually break down this miraculous bio-system we call a body and cause pain, chronic disease and mental dis-stress and decline.
How can we take advantage of this “Start-Stop-Start” built in jump starter for our health and healing or exercise for that matter?
- More frequent physical activity and exercise rather than longer duration. Multiple small walks activate this process more than a long treadmill stint and two 15-minute workouts in the day are better than a single long one.
- Temperature acclamation: forcing your body to heat up and cool down in a relatively short time by exercise followed with a cold shower, sauna then shower, hot tub then shower, and in time take it further with thermal workout gear, and ice water immersion and all sorts of combinations of each. (This is something I teach all our elite/professional athletes to add to their training)
- High intensity trainings that utilize intervals while standing upright like HIIT, peak workouts, and burst training. I call these Variable Output Exercises.
- Exercise while in a fasting state and waiting as long as you can for your first meal. See our YouTube webinar at “Dr. Robert Bartosh” on Intermittent Fasting and its many benefits.
- Building in a basic rotational eating concept for your meal timing, spacing, and skipping breakfast.
Try some of these, your body, metabolism, waistline, mental state, sleep, and overall health will thank you!
Oh, and so will the people around you!
As always, I am here to help achieve “the best performance of your life” and hear more ideas if you have them! We’re waiting to hear from you so email away!
