Exercise

[ysabetwordsmith]

Five minutes a day eccentric exercise can improve your life

As little as five minutes a day of eccentric exercise could offer significant health benefits to those living a stagnant lifestyle.


Exercise doesn't have to involve wasting calories in a gym. Everyday activities count. Bending over to pick things up or empty a washing machine resembles toe-touches. Squatting down to plant, weed, or harvest in a garden is the same as squatting on a gym mat. Wash windows or pick tree fruit until you feel like your arms will fall off, and that's an overhead type of exercise. It all counts.

Ideally, exercises works best with some repetition of the same motion; this article suggests at least 10 reps per motion. When you start to notice your body wearing out, switch to something different. If you do each type of activity for 5 minutes or so, you can fit 2-3 types into a short timespan.

This type of activity is easily incorporated into your day. Take a break every hour or so to get up and do something active. It's a good way to keep up with housework or yardwork. Because the aim is modest, it's not a big exhausting project. Plus you accomplish actual work, which is a benefit that gym exercise never offers, thus improving motivation for everyday exercise.

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[crunchysteve]

Re the stagnant lifestyle term, I should have expanded more, judgemental language doesn't help those being judged overcome what they're being judged for. 30 years ago (god it was actually a third of a century ago 😔) when I was actively involved in Bicycle Tasmania, doubled our membership in a year and increased visible transport cycling by organising regular social rides. Sometimes people would call or write and say things like, "I'd love to do that ride but I only have a cheap bike" and official replies were always along the lines of "Ride what you bring, slowest sets the pace, we're all like minded riders, it's about the route not the bike." In the 5 years the foundation team were running the group, Hobart went from a city where almost nobody but racers rode to a city of visible, if frazzled and harassed cycle commuters. The main cycle route, a concret deck rail trail from the northernmost suburbs into the CBD, still bears the name we gave it, "The Intercity."

We acheived this because we reserved all judgement for city counsellors and State members who kept spouting anti bike rhetoric, and praised anybody who gave riding a "fair go."

I also did media and PR advisory for friend's fat activism work. Learned a heap more about nonjudgemental communication in that capacity, too.

Reserachers really need to check their values at the door of they want widespread adoption of their recommendations. I'd get active in a wider non-judgement field again but a dicky ticker and 10 years out of the media industry, I don't have the energy to rebuild a profile. Besides, here in Melbourne, at leats, "the kids" have got this, they already doing everything I could contribute, and better.

It's time for me to grow old disgracefulky 😂