Читать книгу The Little Book of Calorie Burning - Литагент HarperCollins USD, Ю. Д. Земенков, Koostaja: Ajakiri New Scientist - Страница 18

There really are no valid excuses for not exercising.

 If you have an injury, a weakness or an illness like arthritis or osteoporosis, consult your physio/osteopath/chiropractor/specialist about a type of exercise that would be safe for you to try. Pilates and yoga teachers are trained to work with people who have injuries, and they both help to strengthen the core muscles of the abdomen and back to prevent injury in future. Swimming is often a good option because your joints don’t have to support your body weight. In general, if you have an injury in one place, such as a leg, there’s nothing to stop you exercising your stomach, arms, back and other leg – except lethargy.

 Don’t have time? At the very least, we can all manage to squeeze lifestyle exercises into our day because they are things we’d be doing anyway – you just have to do them more energetically. If you watch TV in the evening, do some sit-ups during the soaps, or swap one half-hour programme for an exercise video. Don’t tell yourself you’ll get up an hour earlier in the morning to go for a run, because you know it won’t happen more than a couple of times. Research shows that those who exercise at home are more likely to stick to it long term so figure out how you’re going to fit it into your routine.

 Too stressed when you finish work and all you feel like is a large glass of chilled Chardonnay to take the edge off the day? You should know that while alcohol has a temporary relaxant effect, as soon as the high wears off you’ll be more anxious than you were before. You’re also more likely to wake up at 3am while your liver works overtime to process the alcohol, and this is precisely when it’s easiest to start stressing about such things as whether your company is about to go bust, how you’re going to meet your mortgage payments and whether your partner is being unfaithful. Alcohol creates stress and exercise relieves it by filling your system with lovely, happy hormones called endorphins. To maximise the endorphin effect when the boss has been obnoxious, do an exercise session of at least 45 minutes.

 Got your period, or PMT? Choose something gentler than usual, but don’t just sit on the sofa and veg out with a kingsize chocolate bar. Pilates and yoga are both good for toning the pelvic and abdominal muscles, thus helping to relieve cramp, and once you’ve learned the moves you can do them yourself at home. Some women think you can’t swim during a period but if you use a tampon that should stop you attracting sharks. Exercise of any kind that promotes the good old endorphin response can stop you being quite so grumpy so it’s definitely a good thing for you – and all those in the vicinity.