More People Are Exercising—Here’s How You Can, Too

By Anonymous -

Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie interview isn’t the only thing going viral right now.Exercise is trending across the U.S., according to new research published in the journal Population Health Metrics.

For the study, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) tracked the exercise habits of 3.7 million adults across the country for more than 10 years. Researchers found that the number of women who met the recommended exercise guidelines (150 minutes per week) rose by four percent nationwide—compared to the one percent increase for men.

The West, Midwest, and South—which had low exercise rates early in the experiment—showed the most improvement. The results suggest that public health initiatives effectively encouraged more people to exercise in these areas, says lead study author Christopher Murray, MD, director of IHME.

Ready for the bad news? Despite the fact that many counties reported higher exercise rates by the end of the study, Murray says obesity rates didn’t drop by much. In Routt, Colorado, for example, 74 percent of women reported more physical activity, but the county only experienced a .5 percent decrease in obesity.

Murray says this might be because people are burning fewer calories than they consume. (You still have to watch what you eat to keep your weight in check, even if you’re active.)

That said, exercise is an important part of weight maintenance—not to mention good health. If you want to start working out, try one of these beginner-friendly routines:

Start Running: The Beginner Running Plan

Your Total-Body Swim Workout

Abs Workout for Beginners

Gym Workouts: Simple Cardio and Weight-Lifting Plans

Beginning-Level Yoga Poses

photo: Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock
Published on July 11th, 2013
Written by: Kenny Thapoung
Women's Health Magazine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Ways to Burn 200 Calories (*based on a 135lb woman)

By Anonymous -
Try these out and in case you couldn’t guess after reading….number 6 is my FAVORITE!! 1.        Get into the swing of things .   Take your stress out at the driving range.   Just 62 minutes at the driving range burns those calories away.   Ready to take on 9 or 18 holes…skip the cart and walk.   You’ll burn 50% more calories per minute. 2.        Meet in a dark alley.   Bowling Alley that is.   In 90 minutes of fun with your friends you’ll roll off 200 calories, skip your light beer-you can do it in an hour! 3.        Go Green.   Ride your bike to run your errands.   In just 23 minutes of peddling or 4.6 miles you burn off those 200 calories! 4.        Strike a pose.   Try Vinyasa yoga.   This type of yoga moves you fluidly from pose to pose, burning more than 7 calories per minute.   29 minutes….200 calories GONE!...
Read more

How To Get Started On An Exercise Program

By Anonymous -
So, you ask yourself…How do I get started?  Everyone has good intentions to exercise on a daily basis, but you need a game plan to make it work.  Here are some suggestions for when you’re beginning to think about an exercise program: Consider what you would like to achieve.  What are your goals?  Are you trying to lose weight or maybe train to participate in a 5K for the first time? Make a reasonable exercise plan.  “No pain, No gain” should not be your plan.  Everyone needs to ease into exercise at their own pace.  Whether you are trying weight training or cardio…ease in… you’ll get to that 5K. How will you fit your exercise program into your day?  Pick the time of day that you feel that you have the most energy and you can commit to your workout.  Schedule your workout time like an appointment you can’t break.  Look at it as “me time”. Try a variety of different exercises.  Don’t do the same exercises all the time, if you do, ...
Read more

Speak up for yourself

By -
Image
A simple, effective way to sidestep sabotage (well meaning or not). "Another slice won't hurt, you don't need to lose weight, but you've always looked like this-it's who you are."  Do any of these sound familiar?  If so, you've faced sabotage at some point along the way and it can undermine your weight loss journey. Something to keep in mind, is that most often, sabotage is not intentional.  Often it's the people that love you the most say or do things that could derail your weight loss and maintenance efforts.  These people don't even realize they're doing it.  They think they are helping you.  Many people associate food with love. The bottom line is not to assume that friends and family are trying to harm your weight loss journey.  Take the time to explain to them how you feel sabotaged and let them know how they can better support you and your goals.  after all, they won't be able to change their behaviors unless they know how th...
Read more