Proper physical activity can prevent almost all diseases, ALMOST ALL                                                                                                                                                                                                             .                                                                                       -Ancient Proverb

No drug, doctor or hospital can do as much to prevent an illness as exercise

                                                                                                                                                -Your Wellness Doc

What is the recent fuss about exercise all about?

Well, this is neither recent nor a fuss! Physical activity as a part of both prevention and treatment of various illnesses has been a part of medical practice since always. Older systems of medicine like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have always emphasized the importance physical activity. Modern medicine has now accepted that recently and thereby is having a wider reach among people now.

How much of exercise is required?

The amount of exercise required is different for different like anything that is medical. People are unique and thereby the response to exercise can be varied. But for all practical purposes, a 45 minutes exercise of moderate intensity, 5 days a week should be sufficient for most healthy people to stay healthy. Further tweaking of your exercise patterns needs individual assessment.

How do I know the intensity of exercise?

Again, intensity toleration varies from person to person, and is also based on the height of a person when it comes to running and other cardiovascular exercises. If you can sing while exercising, you are at low intensity, if you can talk comfortably, you are between low and moderate intensity, if you are slightly breathless but talking makes you uncomfortable, you are at moderate intensity. These are rough guidelines and vary individually. For people using treadmills, use the target heart rate calculator on your left to get your target heart rate, which you can monitor on certain models of treadmills. 

Do I need to lift weight?

Not really. Weights concentrate on a form of exercise for strength building. While it is ideal to lift weights, there are substitute exercises which will also help in strength building without the weights.  Exercises such as push ups , pull ups and chest dips do a wonderful job in basic strength building while also giving you a good body shape. While it might not be necessary to lift weights to achieve strength building, strength building is definitely necessary as part of your exercise program to optimize it.

How important is stretching?

Stretching works on flexibility, which is a very important for agile muscles and lesser chances of injury while working out. Ideally you must do a few stretch exercises both before and after exercises. This will take very little time, but can go a long way in keeping you agile and healthy.

I walk a lot during my office hours. Do I need to exercise?

Absolutely. If your BMI is greater than 25, obviously your office walking is not helping you yet. Also, walking in office is usually associated with a lot of stress. While all the walking you do in office is an add on to your exercise routine, it is NOT a substitute for proper physical activity, as the intensity and continuity can rarely be controlled in office walks and are very necessary in an exercise program.

Can I exercise if I already have an illness like diabetes or raised blood pressure etc? How much of exercise can I do?

Absolutely. Not only can you exercise, but exercise SHOULD be a part of your treatment plan! But do not attempt a 45 minute walk of moderate intensity straight away. Take it slow and reach your goal in 3 weeks time and you will be set for a long innings with exercises!

Will ab exercises help me reduce my hip size?

This is a tricky question. Ab exercises in most formats work on building the strength of the abdomen muscles, which means those muscles will be toned and at a later stage will enlarge enough to be seen through the fat in your tummy. To reduce the fat in your tummy, you need proper cardio exercises which will burn the fat. So do not attempt to exercise just to reduce your hip size and more often than not, people end up spending lots of money to fraudulent entities in a bid to ‘do anything to reduce hip size’. Exercise for the benefit of health with a proper mix of cardio, stretch, strength training and ab exercises and you will have a fantastic body shape that you can be proud of!