August
Being active is a vital part of any lifestyle no matter how busy your schedule is. Along with the obvious benefits of weight loss and improved strength, regular exercise has been shown to reduce long-term health risks, improve insulin sensitivity, and enhances mood and overall quality of life!
Looking to improve your health but don’t have much free time? Lifting weights once a week may be a solution. In a six-month study, 92 healthy adults ages 65-75 were randomly assigned to do supervised whole-body weight lifting once, twice, or three times a week. Another group did no training whatsoever.
Body fat and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol dropped significantly for participants who lifted weights three times a week, and HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels rose in all three exercise groups. Additionally, Individuals who started out with higher levels of blood pressure, blood glucose, and body inflammation improved the most in those areas after the training, regardless of how often they worked out.
Remember, if you are looking to be active outdoors, do it early in the morning or later in the evening when temperatures tend to be more moderate. You will be less likely to become overheated or dehydrated at those times. Now go out and get active!!
Source: Frontiers in Physiology, published online Feb. 27, 2019