To reduce the risk of many diseases and improve life expectancy, it is extremely important to achieve healthy levels of fitness, especially in adulthood. "Fitness" is a very general term, but it usually refers to a normal weight, a diet rich in nutrients and regular physical activity. However, for many people in industrialized countries it still remains a rather vague concept. Just to give an example, in the United States 80 million adults are obese, nutritional deficiencies are completely normal and less than 5% of the population exercise more than half an hour a day. In all of this, the good news is that improving your fitness level is pretty simple and inexpensive, but it does require some commitment and lifestyle changes.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Lifestyle Changes
Step 1. Maintain a normal weight
To figure out if your weight is within a relatively healthy range, you need to calculate your body mass index (BMI). This is useful for determining whether you are overweight or obese. To get your BMI, you need to divide your body weight (in kilograms) by the square of your height (in meters). The higher the value, the more likely you are to suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions. Although genetic factors and hormonal changes play an important role, a healthy weight can be achieved with a proper diet and regular physical activity (read below).
- The BMI values considered healthy and falling within a relatively correct range are those between 18, 5 and 24, 9; a person with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, while obese when it exceeds the value of 30.
- However, this evaluation criterion has limitations: it tends to overestimate body fat in athletes and other people who have developed muscle mass; at the same time, it underestimates fat in the elderly and other people who have little muscle.
Step 2. Eat better
The standard diet typically involves an excessive intake of carbohydrates, harmful fats, refined carbohydrates, and salt. If you also plan to eat this way, you need to make changes to try to lose weight and increase your fitness levels. It is necessary to eat some saturated fats (derived from animals), because the body needs cholesterol; however, you should focus more on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated ones. To get started, read the label on food packaging to avoid trans fats, fructose syrup, and sodium-rich products. Cut back on sodas and energy drinks, replacing them with more water. Include more fresh plant products in your diet (fruits and vegetables) and consider eating them raw more frequently. Replace sugar-rich baked goods with whole grains and breads.
- Foods rich in polyunsaturated fats include safflower, sesame and sunflower seeds, corn oil and soybeans; while the main rich sources of monounsaturated fats are avocado, rapeseed, olive and peanut oil.
- The key to losing weight or keeping it normal is to reduce your daily calorie intake - no more than 2,500 calories if you are a large man and no more than 2,000 if you are a petite woman - as well as incorporating a regular cardiovascular exercise routine to burn fat.
Step 3. Get more physical activity
Exercise is often synonymous with good physical fitness, and you should be exercising, because the ability to perform certain physical exertions is a direct indicator of your overall fitness level. However, more than 80% of adults in industrialized countries do not follow the guidelines, which indicate that they do both aerobic and strength activity, just as 80% of adolescents do not exercise enough exercise to reach the optimal levels for their age. Doing regular cardiovascular exercise every day (such as a brisk walk) for 30-60 minutes not only promotes weight loss because it allows you to burn more calories, but allows a greater supply of oxygen and nutrients to the body's tissues; moreover, it forces the heart and lungs to work more effectively, an essential aspect for physical well-being.
- Start by taking a walk around the block in the evening (if it is safe), then proceed with more difficult routes, which involve inclines.
- In addition to walking, other great cardiovascular exercises you can consider are swimming, cycling, and running on the treadmill.
- Half an hour of training a day is enough to achieve positive effects on the heart and fitness. An hour is even better, but beyond this level you get no more benefits.
- Avoid vigorous activities at first, especially if you have heart problems. Gradually start your new exercise routine and progressively add more time or difficulty over the course of several weeks.
Step 4. Sleep well
To achieve good physical shape, the body needs energy. In addition to a healthy diet (as described above), it is important to ensure that you get restful sleep, to feel energetic and motivated to stay fit. If you don't sleep well (not soundly enough) and not enough (in terms of hours) you can get chronically tired, you start gaining weight, your muscles atrophy, you feel depressed and your risk of many diseases increases. As a general rule, most healthy adults need to sleep an average of eight hours a night to recover and feel well rested; therefore, plan your sleep hours accordingly. You could be among the lucky ones who need only six hours of sleep a night or you could be among those who need to sleep up to 10 hours to feel good. The amount of hours you need depends largely on genetic factors.
- Do not take stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol) at least eight before going to bed. Caffeine increases brain activity and makes it harder to sleep; while alcohol and nicotine prevent you from sleeping deeply.
- Keep the bedroom a quiet, dark, and comfortable place to promote the best quality and quantity of sleep possible.
Step 5. Break bad habits
This is another important aspect of achieving your fitness goals. These include smoking and alcohol abuse. Tobacco smoke is particularly harmful because it damages almost every organ in the body and causes numerous diseases, including all kinds of cardiovascular ailments and even cancer. Likewise, ethanol (the type of alcohol that is usually consumed) is known to be a human carcinogen and dramatically increases the risk of contracting any type of cancer. It is also associated with nutritional deficiencies, cognitive decline (dementia) and depression. You should therefore stop drinking or at least limit your alcohol consumption to no more than one drink per day.
- Use nicotine patches or gum to try to quit smoking. When stopping abruptly, most people often experience many side effects (extreme urge to smoke, depression, headache, weight gain).
- Alcohol is known to thin the blood, reducing the risk of heart disease, but the overall effect of ethanol on health and fitness is undoubtedly negative.
- A significant proportion of heavy smokers also regularly consume alcoholic beverages, so these bad habits often go "hand in hand".
Part 2 of 2: Professional Help
Step 1. Make an appointment with your doctor for a physical exam
To get an objective assessment of your fitness level, visit your family doctor and take a blood test. The doctor can determine your BMI, but will also want to look at your vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate. Slow breathing and a low resting heart rate indicate good physical fitness, just as low blood pressure (less than 130/80) indicates overall good cardiovascular health. The blood test should detect levels of cholesterol and hemoglobin (the iron-based compound that carries oxygen in the blood). People with excellent physical shape tend to have high hemoglobin levels.
- Normal total cholesterol levels should be below 200 mg / dl; LDL (defined as "bad" cholesterol) should not exceed 100 mg / dl, while HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels should exceed 60 mg / dl, to ensure optimal protection from cardiovascular disease.
- Standard hemoglobin levels in adults vary, but generally they should be between 13.8 and 17.2 g / dl (grams per deciliter) in men and between 12.1 and 15.1 g / dl in women.
Step 2. Talk to a physical therapist or personal trainer
If you don't have an athlete background or just want to set up a more structured exercise regimen, you can contact a physical therapist or talk to a gym instructor in your area. Both are able to show you some specific and personalized exercises to lose weight and / or improve cardiovascular endurance. They are also properly trained and instructed to assess fitness levels based on four core factors: aerobics, muscle strengthening and endurance, flexibility and body composition (BMI). It is always better to evaluate the progression of your fitness results over time on yourself, rather than comparing them to friends or other people who go to the gym. You should see steady improvement over the course of several weeks.
- Running specific distances within a certain period of time is a good way to measure aerobic performance.
- Being able to do a certain number of pushups within a set amount of time is a great way to define muscle strength and endurance.
- The sit and reach test is great for measuring flexibility, while BMI is a good indicator of body composition in terms of fat.
Step 3. Consult a chiropractor or osteopath
They are both musculoskeletal specialists who focus primarily on the mobility and functions of the spine and peripheral joints of the limbs. If you're working hard to be more active, it's worth making sure your musculoskeletal system is in good condition. If the chiropractor or osteopath detects misalignments and / or functional anomalies, he can intervene with a manipulation to unblock or restore the joints. These health professionals can also treat soft tissues (muscles, tendons and ligaments) to make sure the body moves normally.
- Although it is possible to restore proper function with a single manipulation session, it is likely that at least three or five treatments are required to notice significant results.
- Many chiropractors are also interested in the gait and biomechanics of running, so they will be able to suggest the best footwear or orthotics, if deemed useful.
- In addition, both chiropractors and osteopaths are often excellent sources of information about nutrition, supplements (vitamins, minerals and herbal treatments), strength exercises and rehabilitation - all of which allow you to improve your level of general well-being.
Advice
- Good social relationships are beneficial for physical and mental health - they help limit stressors and provide effective protection against various diseases and ailments.
- If your BMI is above 25, you should ask your doctor for some advice and strategy to lose weight safely; by doing so, you reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Try to train with friends; physical activity is more fun in groups.
