One of the most encouraging discoveries in the history of exercise is the concept that you can make positive changes in your life by doing one thing only ten minutes per day. When you start to exercise, in as little as ten minutes, your body’s physiology can change for the better. After ten minutes, your heart rate is elevated, your blood flow increases, and the metabolic machinery of your muscles and hormones kicks into high gear. These benefits can last as long as twenty-four hours.
If you exercise for ten minutes, twice per day, the benefits become compounded. For example if you take a morning power walk for ten minutes before your day begins and you go for a bike ride with your family in the evening after work, the benefits you receive will actually be greater than if you exercised for twenty minutes straight.
Just about anybody can find an extra ten minutes to exercise. This ten minutes will positively affect the rest of the 23 hours and 50 minutes in your day. Spend at least ten extra minutes in some kind of physical activity, and you will slim down, feel better, have better posture, have more awareness of the world around you, and will have a more positive outlook toward life.
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| Derek Lloyd exercising for a little over ten minutes at Ensign Peak. |
Along with general movement that will stimulate your aerobic activity, try to do some strengthening exercises too. Do some push-ups. Try some squats holding a weight with both hands close to your chest. Find some exercises online that you can do without going to the gym and exercises that fit your general fitness level. At the office, I keep a set of Perfect Pushups and I will use the Swiss Ball to do triceps dips balancing on our chiropractic table. Improvise.
Make regular physical activity part of your lifestyle. Be the person who takes stewardship over the care of your own body, and you will look and feel great!
Todd Lloyd, DC
chiropractic physician in Salt Lake City
chiropractic physician in Salt Lake City
