Health tips: Keeping trim

Flexibility training helps loosen muscles, reinforce the joints support apparatus and increase their range of motion.

Most people nowadays recognise the need for exercise. It helps you stay in shape, look good and feel great. Exercise is especially recommended in cases of mild depression because it releases endorphins — chemicals which help elevate the mood. The feeling of accomplishment after a good workout and a physically fit body elevates you to cloud nine.

Teens might think that they are too young to bother with physical fitness (which is different from simply being skinny), but that’s not exactly true. They should be getting at least an hour of exercise five days a week, which can consist of a combination of exercises to increase flexibility and strength as well as aerobic training.

Aerobic exercise, or popularly known as cardio, consists of activities which trigger the heart to thump. The idea behind aerobic exercise is that it trains the heart to pump oxygenated blood more efficiently to the muscles and organs of the body. Examples of aerobic exercises include dancing, jogging, biking, using the elliptical cycle and the treadmill.

Flexibility training helps loosen the muscles, reinforce the joints support apparatus and increase their range of motion. Stretching exercises should only be done after a brief warm up lasting at least five to ten minutes.

Initially, it was believed that stretching be done as part of warming up for a workout, however, it has been shown that stretching ‘cold’ muscles, in a manner of speaking, can lead to muscle tears and other injuries. Stretching should be done up till the point that pain doesn’t set in and the stretched position should be held for 10 – 30 seconds.

Isolated groups of muscles are exercised in strength or resistance training. Broadly, the different groups of muscles include those of the arms, forearm, thighs, calves, shoulders, back and abdomen.

Strength exercise can be done using free weights — machines or the body’s own weight, for example — in pushups, pull-ups, squats or sit-ups. It is often confused with competitive body building and power lifting, both of which are ill-advised in teens since their bodies are still growing. Strength training should be done with caution.

To start off, one should first learn the right technique without the weights. No more than 40 minutes of this regimen should be done on alternative days, exercising different groups of muscles each time and building up the weights gradually.

If you’re the type who gets bored in the gym, then choose a sport based on whether you like to go solo or play team sports, and how much you want to invest in sports gear. Most importantly, your chosen sport should excite you.

Few guiding principles are important to adhere to when aspiring to join the ranks of the physically fit. Always warm up before a workout, which can be a less powered version of the activity you are about to commence, such as a brisk walk before you start jogging or slow paced biking.

This will prep your body for the coming burst of activity. Stretching and cooling down before you complete your work out. These practices will lengthen the workout, prevent stiffness, injuries, cramps and light headedness experienced by some towards the close of a taxing physical activity. Lastly, never ignore activity related pain; stop in your tracks as soon as it sets in.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2011.