Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Lower Cholesterol with Effortless Exercises, Part 1

You already know that being physically active will help you lower total cholesterol and triglycerides, reduce high blood pressure, and promote weight loss.  How do you find the time to be more active?  And just how much activity do you have to do?   We now know that accumulating shor...
8/25/08 2:22pm

Thanks Lisa for your post.  Is there anything to the concept of exercising in a more traditional way - weights, cardio, running machines, etc - in a gym brings more sustained physical activity which in turn provides a better way to strength heart and muscles?

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with our members.

 

All the best, sue (moderator)

8/25/08 3:35pm

Hi Sue,

 

It was the Surgeon General's report from 1996 that officially stated short 10 minute bouts of activity to attain a total of 30 minutes at day resulted in comparable health benefits to a sustained 30 minutes period of activity.

 

The accumulated 30 minutes of moderate activity provides the following benefits:

 

Halves coronary heart disease risk

Halves risk of colon cancer

Lowers diabetes risk

Lowers osteoporosis risk

Reduces blood pressure

Improves lipid profile

Improves mental health

 

Now, if you step it up a notch and do sustained, vigorous activity your impact will be even greater.  The reason moderate, short bouts of activity totaling 30 minutes 5 or more days each week is the current recommendation, is because such a large percent of the U.S. population (~50%) lead sedentary lifestyles and a recommendation along the lines of running 3 miles five days a week is not a realistic goal.

 

I hope I've answered your question!

 

Lisa Nelson, RD, LN

Heart Health and Weight Loss Tips

Anonymous
Liz B.
11/20/08 12:05pm

I use cordless phones for exercise.  No, I don't do arm curls. :-) Whenever someone calls, usually my younger daughter who lives in another state and is big on multi-tasking, I walk around the house the entire time the conversation lasts.  She often calls on her way to or from work or out on errands (yes, she has a hands-free set-up in her car; otherwise I wouldn't talk to her).  I can log a lot of hours per month simply doing this exercise.  I also sometimes multi-task, stooping to pick up things that are out of place, running the dust mop over my laminate floors, sorting laundry, etc. I love to walk outdoors, but there are a lot of days (I live in NW North Dakota) when that isn't possible, such as this morning when the wind chill is below zero at nearly noon.  At this time of the year, I also have been known to mall walk to find out where the bargains are with the holidays looming.  I have a free Y membership thru Humana, but at the price of gas and with the Y on the other end of town, I was pleased to read that simple "home work" can count toward my exercise time. I battle the cholesterol bad guys thanks mainly to a heredity problem, etc., and I am determined to come out the winner.