Diet and exercise

By Dr. Elisa Strona

Benefits of Exercise

As we all know, the benefits of physical activity on our body are many: it reduces blood pressure, reduces bad blood cholesterol, increases good cholesterol, reduces triglycerides and visceral adipose tissue and, very importantly, increases muscle tone and consequently also the basal energy expenditure.

Consistency and regularity are the key words for obtaining benefits from physical activity. Three hours of concentrated activity on Sunday are less effective than the same hours spread over several days of the week. Another important factor is pleasure: our exercise must be fun, not stressful, and perhaps even varied, to induce those who are easily bored to continue in the process.

How to Reconcile Sports and Daily Commitments

The commitment to exercise regularly may appear incompatible with the rhythms and habits of life of many people. It is not easy to carve out time, but with stubbornness you can succeed. The important thing is not to expect to exercise outside. of their physical possibilities.
Surely the first step is to become aware of the importance of physical activity.
We can then identify three macro-categories:

1. for those with little time but good will: you have to put in place small daily tricks to exercise almost unconsciously. It's all about identifying ways to increase muscle use. Small tricks could be for example: every time you can take the bus instead of the car, or possibly go on foot. Let's always ask ourselves "But is it so far away that I can't walk?". to use the car, we try to park it far from the place where we have to go, in order to walk at least 5 minutes. On the other hand, if we use public transport, we can get off one or two stops before ours. Needless to say, it would be better to take the stairs than to use the elevator. And if we live on the tenth floor, well, we go with the elevator up to the eighth. Isn't taking the steps a way to make the step ?!
2. for those with a long time but little will: a method that can help to overcome laziness could be to be followed by someone, such as a personal trainer, or to do physical activity with more motivated friends. Having a dog can also be an excellent incentive to go out for a walk !
3. for those with little time and little will: these are the most difficult cases, and like any difficulty it must be experienced as a challenge. Let's try to "challenge" ourselves, perhaps proposing to try to do physical activity for a limited period. Habits need to be changed slowly. Especially the more deeply rooted ones.

Therefore, we find the exercise that best suits our abilities and needs, and we try to do it regularly and consistently.