DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – Singer Adele stunned her fans recently with her 100-pound weight loss, saying she exercises two or three times a day. But that raised some eyebrows among exercise experts who say that too much exercise can negatively impact the body.
Local personal trainer Anthony Peters from QuickHIT Fitness Labs joins us to talk about optimizing your workouts in a safe and healthy way.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED A GOOD AMOUNT OF EXERCISE IN A DAY?
- The most important thing is to make physical activity a regular part of your daily life.
- The general guideline is to get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week or 300 minutes on the higher end.
- That equals about 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day.
- But your workouts don’t have to be an hour long every time. At QuickHIT, our workouts are just 20 minutes and we tailor them specifically to each client based on their needs and goals.
- But you don’t have to sweat it out in a gym. Activities like going for a walk around your neighborhood also count as exercise.
- You also don’t need to do it all at once. If you don’t have 30 minutes, you can break it up into 10 minutes three times during the day.
WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN PEOPLE EXERCISE TOO MUCH?
- You want to make sure you’re hitting that sweet spot with exercise and not getting to the point where you’re doing more harm than good.
- Too much exercise can cause injuries, and it can cause you to plateau in your fitness goals.
- Exercise breaks down muscle fibers and you get stronger as your body repairs them.
- When you don’t give yourself enough rest between workouts, you’re not giving your body enough time to repair itself and that causes the muscles to deteriorate.
- That’s when overuse injuries can occur.
ADELE SAID SHE EXERCISED TO LOWER HER ANXIETY. HOW DOES EXERCISE IMPACT A PERSON’S MENTAL HEALTH?
- On top of the physical benefits, studies show exercise can also positively impact your mental health.
- Physical activity has been shown to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, increase your energy level and improve your sleep.
- It does that by releasing endorphins and taking your mind off your worries so you get out of that cycle of negative thoughts.
HOW CAN SOMEONE GET STARTED WITH A GOOD WORKOUT ROUTINE?
- Figure out what activities you enjoy doing the most or an activity that you’d like to try because you think you’ll enjoy it.
- You don’t want to think about exercise as a chore, but instead something that you want to do.
- Figure out when you’ll be most likely to do the activity, and also think about the barriers you’ll likely face to getting exercise and how you’ll overcome them.
- Remember to set goals for yourself that are reasonable, measurable and attainable.
WHAT ARE A FEW MOVES BEGINNERS CAN DO TO GET STARTED WITH EXERCISE?
- Demonstrate a couple beginner moves and explain how a person can make the move more advanced.
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