Exercise Archives - The Paleo Network

11 sneaky ways to exercise

August 2, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts, Fitness /by Suz

Let’s be honest, we don’t all love exercise. For some of us, the idea of going out for a run, or an early morning boot camp is enough to make us break out into a cold sweat.

But the fact is, movement is good. There’s a huge myth that exercise has to be long, intensive cardio for it to be worthwhile. But that’s just not true. Often it can do more harm than good exercising in this way – not to mention the increased risk of injury. If you don’t enjoy the exercise you’re doing, is it really going to benefit you as much as working out in a way you love? The stress from long intensive cardio, particularly if you hate it, could do you serious harm. Especially if you’re regularly forfeiting an hour of sleep most nights to fit it in.

If you love running on a treadmill in the gym – good on you – but for those of us who don’t – how about getting your fitness in another way? A way you might actually LOVE?

Here are some alternative ways to get some exercise in – without stepping foot in a gym:

Dance

There aren’t many things more fun than dancing – whether you’re out with friends, taking a dance class, or just dancing in the privacy of your living room.

Yoga

Yoga is so easy to start, whether following online at home, or joining in at a class. Wherever you live, there’s bound to be a class near you.

Walking

Seriously, it doesn’t get any easier than this! Whether it’s walking for a purpose, or just to explore your local area

Playing video games

Seriously! Of course, I mean an active video game, like Wii Fit or Just Dance

Playing with the kids

Pretend you’re the same age – it will keep you young, and they’ll love it!

Martial Arts

Have you ever tried karate or judo? A lot of fun – and a valuable skill too

Garden

Maybe this is the year to sort your garden out, have a proper veggie patch and some light landscaping? I love dial purpose exercise like this – the treadmill doesn’t reward you with home-grown veg, does it?

Clean

Not the most fun, I admit, but cleaning your house is a great workout – and has the side benefit of making everything all sparkly and shiny

Volunteer

Wherever you live, you can guarantee there will be some volunteer schemes nearby. Maybe it’s looking after the Local Park or beach, or at an animal home – give it a try!

Get a dog

Well, you should probably have more reasons than for it’s exercise benefit alone – but what better way to move than with your canine best friend?

Dust your bike down

Cycling is such a low impact, fun way to get out. Put a basket on the front and who needs the car next time you go grocery shopping?

Time to get healthy?

January 1, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog Posts, Food, Paleo /by Suz

Post Christmas is a popular time to readdress your goals. Perhaps you got a bit carried away with the festivities and have realised you are carrying more weight than is healthy? Or perhaps you have a few health issues that you want to concentrate on, and resolve once and for all? Now is the perfect time to get healthy!

It starts with food

Diet is a great place to start. Instead of waiting until all if the festive food has been eaten (we've all done that!) why not just throw it away – or give it to someone who will appreciate it? Your health will thank you!

Once you've cleared out all the not-exactly-paleo food – it's time for the good food! Make a list, plan out your meals for the next week and go and get some good wholesome paleo foods.

I like to make up big batches of dishes like soups and curries. It's great to freeze them in small portions, making it super easy to get healthy meals, quickly.

What about lifestyle?

Lifestyle is a huge health factor! In fact, I'd argue that even with a perfect diet unless you have got the lifestyle factors right it's almost impossible to get healthy.

How's your sleep?

Have late nights and difficult mornings started to creep in? Are you getting enough sleep? This is a great time to work out how much sleep your body needs – and how you're going to get it.

Connection

Another huge factor – do you have enough time in your life for your friends and family? Do you have enough time to relax and just be? If not – what can you change to create more balance in your life?

Get healthy with fitness

This is another important factor. Do you lift heart things and get in the occasional sprint? Being fitter seems to go hand in hand with overall health and well being. You don't have to start big – try walking more.

I'd love to hear what you're planning to work on over the coming months, what changes are you planning to make to your life?

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout

December 8, 2013/1 Comment/in Blog Posts, Health, Paleo /by Suz

What exactly is high intensity interval training?

High intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a bit of a buzz word in the Paleo community, but what is it? HIIT is a series of short high intensity workout intervals combined with short “recovery” intervals.

Instead of spending hours on the treadmill, a HIIT is far shorter, consisting of short bursts of very strenuous workout, broken up with recovery intervals. You might sprint for a minute as fast as possible, then recover for two minutes several times.

What are the benefits of HIIT?

1. You can burn far more fat in HIIT. After you complete a high intensity workout, your body burns more fat than if you were to run for 30 minutes at a steady pace.

2. You push your heart and make it stronger because you are making it go to a limit that it won’t go to if you remain doing low intensity workouts.

3. You will lose fat, not muscle.

4. You can do it anywhere. You don’t need a gym with lots of equipment. You can just go outside and run.

5. It’s challenging. This is something you need to set aside time to do. You cannot relax and watch a movie or read a book while you try to do a few sit-ups. This requires your focus and commitment which will result you feeling better and help you to obtain good results.

Of course, it is important to not over do it. When you engage in high intensity interval training it may be tempting to keep pushing yourself until you are working out for an hour or more and doing more intensity intervals than recovery intervals.

The conventional wisdom workouts, where people spend hours on a treadmill or cross trainer are “chronic cardio”, which is not the key to fitness that it might seem. Chronic cardio can result in muscular fatigue, oxidative stress and a stress generally on the body.

Crossfit incorporates HIIT in it’s WOD’s (workout of the day), this makes up just a small part of a class – and the actual activities making up the HIIT element are always varied.

Do you do HIIT? I’d love to hear how you workout, add your comment, below!

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