Exercise — some hate it, some love it but why is it important?

In this article I chat with Kaelan Hanslo the owner of The Wellness Hub about the importance of exercise, the misconceptions about it and how to find motivation and get started.

Kaelan and myself are both certified PT’s plus Kaelan is a Certified Biokineticist and Sports Massage Therapist who has been practicing his profession for years — healing, growing and connecting with people, which is why I’m excited to share this article as exercise is a deep passion of ours which we both love to do and share with others.

However, not everyone loves to exercise so let’s explore what motivates us, why is it important to exercise and what are some of the simple ways you can get started and become fit and active — and start to enjoy training!

+ Plus

We have included a 3 day workout program at the bottom of this article to help you get started. If you struggling to figure out what form of exericse you enjoy and would like to start somewhere this plan is for you.

Let’s jump in…

Importance of nutrition while exercising

We all know how important nutrition is while exercising or even just in general but why don’t we act according to those believes. The main reason so many people fall pray to poor eating habits is because we really don’t know what “healthy” is. There is so much information out there about healthy eating that it becomes overwhelming, enough to drive us insane and making you want to quit altogether.
Knowledge is power but overwhelming amounts of knowledge is disempowering. Start with what you know and implement it as you grow. Get rid of the idea that eating healthy means one needs to be strict with one’s diet 100% of the time because like Homesis would say, “a little bit of bad does one a lot of good”. Im sure you know of one thing that you should be doing or doing less of. Start there and build onto that. If you really clueless contact us and we will give you a place to start and we will work from there.

How much sleep should we get and why is it important?

Sleep as we all know is quite important. However the myth about is that we should get 8 hours of sleep when in fact you could be getting it and still feel like a zombie the next morning. It’s all about the quality of sleep. Studies have shown that good quality sleep is directly related to weightloss.
Have you ever stayed up late at night and felt like eating something or craving something? Have you noticed that you never crave kale or spinach or anything healthy? Sleep deprivation causing the body to crave sugar hence the weight gain.
A good night sleep starts the morning. Wake up with some form of movement. Do a 5 min walk/ yoga as you wake up. This resets your serotonin and cortisol and melatonin levels.
Before you go to bed, make sure the room is completely dark. Any blue and white light will disrupt the hormonal levels of sleep. No electronic devices at least 1 hour before bedtime for this reason.
These are the two main things that will help with getting a good nights sleep.

How much should we exercise?

The body doesn’t require us to gym 2 hours a day, 7 days a week to see results. This is shown by the old generation body builders who trained every alternate day giving their bodies sufficient time to recover. You also don’t have to train 2 hours when you do exercise. 30–45 mins of moderate/high intensity of exercise is more than enough to move the needle to achieve your goals. These sessions would include 5–10 mins of some cardiovascular exercise and the rest of the workout would include strength or resistance training. 3–4 sets with minimal rest (10–30 secs) between sets.
If you like me and feel you need to do some form of exercise everyday then do 20–30 mins of exercise each day. Perform 3 high intensity workouts for three consecutive days and the fourth day would be a low to moderate intensity. Repeat the cycle.

Should you have a gym routine or plan before you go to gym?

Having a plan before you head to gym primes your body and mind on the goal at hand making you laser focused. The motivation you seeking for training comes from your preparation before the actual training. Get a plan! “A man who fails to plan only plans to fail”

What are misconceptions about exercising?

Exercise is not something we do to lose weight but is a law of first principal which means humans were designed to move. If you are not moving you are not operating fully as a human.
Most people think you should only exercise if you want big muscles or a flat tummy when in fact movement is required for us to feel fulfilled in life. Emotions and movement are closely connected. The way you move is the way you emote. A depressed person will never decide to go for a run but people who run are hardly depressed.

How to get motivation to start exercising?

Once you realise we are designed to move will it be revealed to you that you were always equipped to move! You don’t need a fancy shoe or clothing item to move in. These are excuses we tell ourselves. Exercise doesn’t mean do burpees. Exercise essentially means to move. By engaging in any form of movement would we be classified as exercising. If you enjoy dance, start dancing. If you enjoy walking, start walking. If you enjoy cleaning, clean the house the the intention to move. Just start moving.

When should you hire a trainer or fitness coach?

-Once you came to the revelation the body is designed to move and you have started moving regularly on your own
-You’ve gain all the benefits from those exercises and are in need of new movement patterns should you consider getting a personal trainer (PT). The PT shouldn’t try and convince you to move. You should already have the motivation to move and all the PT does is provide you with variation and guidance in different movement patterns.

Abdominal exercising to lose belly fat

I would encourage everyone to engage in any form of abdominal training. My reasoning however isn’t because you will reduce belly fat but because weightloss doesn’t work that way. However by engaging In these exercises you strengthen the trunk which provides a stable foundation for you to explore various movement patterns. It acts as a catalyst to reach the next level of training. By doing so will you lose weight anyway as a result of the total amount of exercise you are doing. So don’t skip core workouts.

Overtraining

Overtraining is more of a mental aspect of training which manifests itself physically. When you begin to percieve exercise as overwhelming over a period of time will you begin to feel the effects of overtraining. This will be different for everyone. So pay attention to how you feel and respect the body enough to push it when you need to but also rest when required. Side note, the benefits of exercising is only brought about during rest so rest is important regardless.
The best exercises to do to see and feel good would be exercises that include more than one body part which is known as compound exercises such as Squats, lunges, push ups, pull ups, deadlifting, rowing and overhead presses are all movements which require more than one muscle and thus you will increase in strength faster and see results earlier.

Where to start?

Start from where you at. That is the only place you can start anyway. Ask yourself what is the one thing/activity/sport/movement I enjoy doing and start doing it. You don’t need much convincing to do something you always wanted to do or previously enjoyed. Just start because now you know you were designed to move so let’s start moving.

It should be noted before engaging in any exercise, you should have been cleared by your doctor.

Starting your fitness journey?

Speak to Kaelan Hanslo about your fitness requirements or questions or visit him at The Wellness Hub for a free one-on-one trial session. Should you not be in his location, Kaelan can provide coaching or guidance virtually as well. ‍

‍Disclaimer:
If you have a heart condition, struggle breathing, or have previous injuries it is advised that you see your doctor prior to any form of exercise to ensure you don’t incur further damage or injuries. If you are new to exercising and dieting it is also recommended that you speak to a professional certified trainer/coach and nutritionist who can guide and support you on your journey.

Starter Workout Program for at home or gym

Day 1:

5 min walk / jog / skipping rope

20 high knees
15 squats progress to squat jumps
10 push-ups or modified push-ups
10 mountain climbers
10 lying back extensions

10 leg raises (lying on back for abs)
20 sit ups
45 sec plank

*Repeat the above 3 to 5 rounds with short rest periods (15 / 30 seconds) in between

Perform light stretches at the end of your session. Examples are:

1. Toe touches
2. Abductor stretch
3. Piriformis stretch
4. Lower back pinwheel stretch
5. Lat stretch

Day 2:

5 min walk / jog / skipping rope

25 jumping jacks
10 tricep dips on edge of chair or bench
10 bicep curls with small weights (fill 2L milk jug with water)
20 side lunges
20 straight arm plank shoulder taps

10 bicycle ab crunches
20 sit ups
45 sec plank

*Repeat the above 3 to 5 rounds with short rest periods (15 / 30 seconds) in between

Perform light stretches at the end of your session as per examples above^

Day 3:

5 min walk / jog / skipping rope

25 SUMO squats
10 mountain climbers
10 side plank pulses
20 lunges progress to jumping lunges
20 half burpee

10 reverse crunches
20 sit ups
45 sec plank

*Repeat the above 3 to 5 rounds with short rest periods (15 / 30 seconds) in between

Perform light stretches at the end of your session as per examples above^

Keep learning, keep growing and keep going!

With optimism & creativity, Jimbo

Hint — the cage is not locked, feel free to connect with me or visit jamiewindell.com :)