To Your Health
Ten Tips for Improving Wellness
There is no magic pill or quick fix to turn you healthy overnight, but there are a few tips you can implement to jump-start the process and keep you safe and progressing during your wellness journey.
1 Aim to participate in some form of physical activity five to six days a week for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes. Simply put: Keep moving.
2 Strive to drink as least half of your body weight in ounces of clean water per day. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, drink at least 90 ounces of water per day.
3 Every time you eat, make sure to include protein and healthy fat. Protein helps build lean muscle and increase your metabolism. Healthy omega-3 fats help in overall wellness and reducing inflammation in the body, but most importantly, your brain loves fat for optimal cognitive function.
4 Exercise each major muscle group—chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs and abdominal area—at least once per week.
5 Your muscles can take up to 48 to 72 hours to recover fully from resistance-training sessions, so plan your workouts according to how your body feels.
6 If you have a weak joint, strengthen the muscles around it. For example, if you have “weak knees,” strengthen the calves, quadriceps, glutes and hamstring muscles to help stabilize the knee joint.
7 Be aware of the “healthy halo.” This is described as eating more of a particular food because it is labeled as being healthy, organic or natural. This does not mean you can eat unlimited amounts of it. Calories still count even if the food is healthy.
8 During cardiovascular exercise, a good rule of thumb is to stay in your effective heart-rate range, which is 65 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate (220 – your age x .65 and .85).
9 Working out to get stronger should always be your goal, regardless of age. Being stronger makes everything easier, even if it is lifting up your children or a laundry basket.
10 Use dynamic warm-ups before a workout and static stretching after a workout. Dynamic warm-ups can consist of jumping jacks, jogging in place, medicine ball swings, jumping rope, walking on a treadmill or any other motion that gets your heart rate up while warming the muscles. Never stretch a cold muscle before a workout.