Rules for Engagement - Rule 6 - Exercise

As I mentioned in Rule 4 (Diet), I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘gym person.’ Therefore, I’m not here as any form of an expert but this, much like the Diet rule, has worked for me by pushing myself to new limits and staying fairly lean and healthy.

Exercise seems to be a rule that continues to be very fluid. What I mean is that the ways in which I exercise and the frequency change more so than changes to other rules. So, I’ll provide the ways in which I exercise now and previous ways that still pushed me to work harder and kept me reasonably fit.

So let’s start with frequency. About a month ago, during lockdown, I increased my exercise from two days in a row then rest to four days in a row then I do yoga on a rest day instead of nothing. Before that, I used to workout then have a day off the next day. Luckily, I came to realise you don’t need days off after one workout day. It’s best just not to work the same muscles or carry out the same form of exercise two days in a row to avoid injury. For example, if I did a strength training session one day with focus on my shoulders, I wouldn’t do more strength training the next day working the same muscles. Anyway, I find it best to alternate between cardio and strength workouts and I have a rest day after four workout days in a row.

Cardio

Before lockdown, I did a 15-20 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) session for my cardio fitness (thank you Joe Wickes) and I still believe in the effectiveness of these workouts, they were hard and pushed me to work harder and for longer. However, like many people during lockdown, I thought I’d try running. I was never a good runner. I have asthma so anytime I went on a treadmill, I’d only last about a minute before I was out of breath. I put this down to my asthma and just figured I’m just not the type of person who can go out running. How wrong I was (Yoda voice). I decided to give it another go and downloaded the One You Couch to 5K app. This is a 9 week running programme designed to build you up to running a 5K. It works in a similar way to HIIT sessions in that it follows intervals which increase as the weeks go on. The first week starts with 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking and it builds as the weeks go by. I’m now on week 8 and I’m running non-stop for 28 minutes and am running a 5K in that time. I would never have thought that was possible, so if I can do it, you can too. What also helped me was the Chi-Running technique.

I would highly recommend reading Danny Dreyer’s book Chi-Running or the free e-book to learn how to run more efficeintly, with more ease and less injury. When I first started running, my knee was always sore, then my calves hurt then my back but after using Chi-Running techniques, the soreness is easing and I’m running with more efficency. I go for a run 3 days a week now and have little to no muscle soreness.

There is compelling evidence that running provides significant health benefits for the prevention of chronic diseases and premature mortality regardless of sex, age, body weight, and health conditions as well. There are also strong plausible physiological mechanisms underlying how running can improve health and increase longevity. Running may be the most cost-effective lifestyle medicine from a public health perspective, more important than other lifestyle and health risk factors such as smoking and obesity.

However, there are also benefits in a wide range of other cardio-based forms of exercise although, running seems to be one of, if not the best all-round workouts in terms of physical health and mental health. Many studies show benefits of running for better mental health such as reliveing stress and other challenges we face in modern society, as well as leading to a more positive view of one’s physical well-being which then leads to positive views in terms of one’s emotional well-being.

So, that’s cardio.

Strength Training

I realise I may not look like someone who lifts weights but the benefits of strength training are multiple and wide-ranging. Weight training can reduce anxiety, reduce pain intensity such as back pain, improve cognition, reduce symptoms of depression, reduce fatigue, improve self-esteem and improve sleep quality. It’s not all about wearing tops one size too small to show off those bulging biceps. I carry out weight training sessions 2-3 times per week depending on what days a rest falls on. I’ll focus on a different muscle group each time like triceps, biceps, shoulders or chest. These workouts generally take me around an hour.

I start off with a quick round of 3 minute HIIT exercises like high knees, jumping jacks etc. as a warm up then I’ll stretch all my muscles groups. I won’t include how many reps I complete here, it’s best for you to find out what works best for you. In order to work out what weight I should lift, I’ll complete an exercise with 3 sets of 6 reps, if I can do this with significant effort, then I know it’s right. Every three times (it helps to tally everytime you complete an exercise) that I’ve completed this exercise, I’ll increase the rep. Once I get to 3 sets of 12 reps, I’ll increase the weight and start again at 3 sets of 6. I also have, for each muscle group, 3 sets of 3 exercises. For one workout, I’ll do 1 set of 3 exercises then for the next workout surrounding the same muscle group I’ll carry out a different set of 3 to surprise the muscles and increase effectiveness. For example, for a Bicep workout, I might complete 3 sets of 6 bicep curls, 3 sets of 6 alternating bicep curls and 3 sets of 6 close-hand push ups. I’ll tally this and the next bicep workout, I’ll do a different set of exercises and tally that set.

In terms of exercises themselves. First, I’ll squeeze wrist strengtheners for 3 sets then I’ll squeeze and hold them for 3 sets of however long you feel you can keep it up. Then I’ll do 3 sets of exercises for that workout’s muscle group. After this, I’ll complete 3 sets of sit-ups and 3 sets of crunches. And after this, I complete 3 exercises, each 3 sets of side exercises (or love handle exercises, p.s love handles are my nemesis so if you have a magic technique to scrape them away, let me know). Lastly, I complete 3 sets of squats (of which I add weight to the dumbell I carry between my thighs). Then, I do a quick warm-down stretch and that’s my strength workout. Remember and eat or drink something afterwards to replenish your muslces like whey protein (Rule 4).

This won’t make your shoulders stretch out miles from your neck or build muscles that’ll siginificantly stretch a one size too small t-shirt but it generally keeps my body fairly toned to the point where I can eat a relaxed diet and still be relatively happy with my body.

Next week, we’ll take a look at Collections.

References

ChiRunning. 2020. Technique Based Running Training For Beginners & Competitors. [online] Available at: <https://www.chirunning.com/>.

LeeD,etal.RunningasaKeyLifestyleMedicineforLongevity.ProgCardiovascDis(2017),http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.pcad.2017.03.005

Skead, N. K., & Rogers, S. L. (2016). Running to well-being: A comparative study on the impact of exercise on the physical and mental health of law and psychology students. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijlp.2016.05.012

Shipway, Richard & Holloway, Immy. (2010). Running free: Embracing a healthy lifestyle through distance running. Perspectives in public health. 130. 270-6. 10.1177/1757913910379191.

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