First Health Info

Exercise doesn't have to be extreme to be effective. In fact, working out for at least 30 minutes 5 days per week can provide a fit body for a lifetime. Athletes with certain goals may need to perform above the maintenance requirement, but in general, active adults can achieve great results using the 30-minute strategy.  Most of us want to feel and look good in and out of clothes with a simple exercise routine. This is possible without leaping over tall buildings in single bounds and lifting hundreds of pounds of weight. I'm not knocking those doing the leaping, heavy lifting, or extreme sports, but addressing the norm demographic of everyday people who just want to get and look healthy.  Studies have shown that 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as brisk walking several times weekly is sufficient to maintain a healthy body. It would be reduced to 75 minutes per week if the exercise is vigorous like running or attending an aerobics class. High-intensity interval t...

Fitness is about progress and not perfection. Many of us struggle with a perfectionist personality to the point of interfering with our quality of life and derailing fitness attempts. When our focus becomes more realistic , not based on comparisons or the way we think fitness should be is when awesome stuff happens. First, allowing ourselves to be a beginner is important. No one starts at the top and sometimes we even need to start over due to an injury or illness setback . I speak from experience when it comes to being knocked down from an injury and although the setback was difficult, I applied a progressive program to recover. There is nothing pretty or perfect in hard work and if you look good at the end of your workout, it certainly wasn't done correctly. We can put so much pressure on ourselves with exercise programs doing too much too soon. Somehow we take on this belief that we should be at the same level as a seasoned athlete. This only leads to discouragement and frustrat...