What is the best exercise for me?? This is a question I get asked regularly at the clinic and the easy answer is “it depends”. It depends on how old you are, what your fitness level is like, if you have any experience in exercising, what your current health status is, etc. Any exercise program should be specific to your particular GOALS and therefore there is no one size fits all exercise programs.
If you are over 40
If you are over 40 your goals and sensibilities around exercise are probably different then when you were in your 20’s. The time you have to devote to exercise is maybe less than when you were younger yet you recognize that the importance of making time.
If this sounds like you, then like me, you want to get the best return on your time and effort investment. To do this there are some basic guidelines that I follow for my own exercise regime. These may work for you or they may not, depending on your specific circumstances.
Have both resistance and HIIT training in your program.
HIIT training stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. Over the past several years HIIT has become the go-to recommendation for exercise for those over 40 and for those who are interested in modifying or maintaining a leaner body composition.
There are several ways to structure a HIIT style of workout but the thing they all have in common are short burst periods of difficult to very difficult of activity followed by a period of rest or recovery.
Working out for 20 seconds with a 10 second rest before tackling another move, sounds easy right?! WRONG!! If you are doing it right, 4 minutes can become a very long period of time.
The nice thing about this formula is that it doesn’t matter what your 20 seconds of exercise is. Running 20 on 10 off no problem. Stairs? Yup, how about Burpees? Sure thing. Almost any exercise can be incorporated in the HIIT formula.
Where can I go locally to exercise?
For me a facility or workout needs to check off all the boxes....quick, no wait times, HIIT and resistance, and fun! In Red Deer and Central Alberta, we are spoiled for choices on where we can go to exercise. There are lots of places and I am certainly not familiar with them all so this list is by no means exhaustive. Keep in mind facilities are currently CLOSED due to COVID, but it is not a bad idea to research a few and think about joining when they re-open.
This is a list of local options that I am personally familiar with and by that, I mean places I have spent personal time exercising at or know the owners/instructors personally.
South Red Deer Fitbody Bootcamp (Downtown Red Deer)
CommonSpace Studios (Delburne)
The Forum (Near Westerner Park in Red Deer)
Jazzercise Red Deer (North Red Deer)
Motion Fitness
Collicutt Center
Stay Home
Sometimes this is the only option life is busy and it can be hard to schedule a workout. Or when the facilities shut down due to COVID! So what to do? Put the kids to bed and watch an exercise video? I don’t have as much experience with home exercise programs as I do with getting out to the gym but I did work my way through some of the home programs (Beachbody, Jillian Michaels and MANY online free workouts right now due to gyms being closed).... the one thing I can tell you that insanity kicked my butt years ago and I swore I would never do it again! You need to be disciplined enough to MODIFY exercises when the option is given. Strength will come, please don't hurt yourself!
Where you go is not nearly as important as just getting started. Resistant exercises and HIIT style workouts can be, and should be challenging but not scary. Make sure you consult with a health care provider before starting any type of intense exercise. Once you start you won’t look back. You will be too busy doing the things you want to do, catching yourself off guard when you are able to do activities you haven't done in YEARS and are feeling great doing it.
We recognize that you have a choice of who you trust with your care and would like to thank you for placing your trust and confidence in us!
Check back in next couple days for a weeks worth of HIIT training for you to try at home, equipment free!
I have two puppies at home and this is what home workouts have become (no that is not me in the video!)
Thank you to the Chiropractic Success Academy for the great guideline