3 Exercises Every Woman Should Do
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Staying healthy is so important if we want to be able to be good parents, progress in our careers or make any sort of difference in the world.
And it becomes even more important the older we get. Research has shown that people who live longer tend to be more active throughout their lives.
There are 3 general types of exercise that everyone should do regularly:
1) Cardiovascular Exercise – this type of exercise is also sometimes called aerobic exercise – and is a necessity to keep your heart healthy and strong.
Some easy ways to get this type of exercise are walking and running – activities that involve getting your large muscles moving more and your heart working harder. Personally, I like using a treadmill for this. I usually tape most shows on TV that I like and then watch them while walking on the treadmill. This way I’m not wasting time just watching TV and as I really don’t enjoy exercising, it distracts me from it enough that the time goes by faster.
By the way, cardiovascular exercise helps by strengthening your heart so that it contracts more strongly and can pump more blood with each heart beat. This way your heart doesn’t have to beat as many times per minute.
2) Strength Training – this type of exercise is important to help us build and maintain our strength, especially as we get older because muscle mass is lost as we age. It can also help keep our bones strong and reduce our chances of developing osteoporosis.
To do this type of exercise you can go to a gym, if you enjoy doing that. They will have many different types of equipment there for you to use. I don’t, so I exercise at home using free weights or exercise bands and tubes.
It works by making tiny, microscopic tears in your muscle fibers – which is why you feel sore sometimes after exercising. When these tears heal, they make your muscle stronger and bigger. (These tears shouldn’t be confused with big tears, which are injuries.)
3) Flexibility Exercise – and stretching helps to keep your muscles from getting injured and can increase your range of motion.
There are many different stretching exercises you can do – if you do a search on a search engine you will find many to choose from.
I’ve been wanting to learn tai chi for years but haven’t found anyone near by enough to teach it. It is good for flexibility and for developing better balance.
Honestly, I don’t enjoy exercising!
So do I do what I say everyone else should do? Not really. I don’t really like exercising very much. Some people seem to really enjoy it but I don’t. Overall my motivation to do it comes from wanting to be more healthy and to live longer. Sometimes that is not enough to get me to do it though. I do use our treadmill a few times a week, it’s easier for me to get myself to do it since like I said above – I can watch TV while I’m doing it! So I’m ok with cardiovascular exercise, but the rest I haven’t done for a while.
Do you enjoy exercising? Why or why not? How do you keep yourself motivated? Any tips to make it more enjoyable for people like me?
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Related Posts:
- Exercise for your heart with WOMAN Challenge
- The importance of strength training exercise for women’s health
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13 Responses to '3 Exercises Every Woman Should Do'
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on July 30th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I exercise in spurts. I will do very good for 2-3 weeks but the one time I decide not to go to the gym, I get off my schedule and it’s hard for me to go back. My main problem is I get bored. I need to incorporate different things and I think that will motivate me more.
Lisa Irbys last blog post: 13 Reasons People Fail Online
on July 31st, 2008 at 9:18 am
I am someone who hated the gym, gym class, and conventional sport. My friends were all basketball and softball players or runners. I just didn’t get it. Then I discovered canoeing. I loved it. I still love it. In fact, I chose my college because it was located where I could go canoeing anytime I wanted to.
So what does this mean? Well, I truly believe there is an exercise for everyone. There is something out there to enjoy and to excel at. Don’t get stuck in convention—gyms offer cool, fun, amazing programs nowadays! Aerial yoga, judo, archery, copeiera, pole dancing…too scared to go to the gym? Search for a DVD or through your local cable stations for a taste.
And hey, the Olympics are coming in a little over a week. How’s THAT for motivation?! Watch the “alternative” sports…curiosity, awe, and the “newness” factor are the best of motivators! The only thing holding you back is YOU! So go to it!
Lindsays last blog post: Silence the Stigma of STIs…listen to your body
on July 31st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
You can try borrowing Tai Chi exercise videos from the library or from Netflix.
As for me, I like to workout. It took me 3-4 years to get here. But I cannot imagine not moving every day now.
asithis last blog post: Turning up the Heat in Our Fat Cells
on August 1st, 2008 at 7:02 am
Don’t forget PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES! Every time I pass the “Depends” products at the supermarket I remember that this is possibly the most important exercise for any woman.
Anita
on August 1st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I do love exercising but this dropping thing keeps holding me lolz.I do somehow manage to walk/run atleast twice a week.Good enough? haha
dropped an EC here.
on August 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hope all who read this know how very important all three of these things are!! I do all three and I am an “early 50’s” Diva! I am also almost 3 years out from my cancer diagnosis and treatment. Being in good shape made a world of difference to help me, physically and mentally, get through all the very hard stages of cancer that you deal with. I’m not addicted to exercise, but it is very important to me. I cannot power walk as long I used to, but I still do it and try to get in 2 muscle conditioning classes a week and at least 1 or 2 yoga and/or pilates(mat) classes a week! It’s worth it ~ Take care of yourselves ladies!! Have a great week!
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on August 4th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Well I’m not a big fan of exercising either! I like to do yoga tho! If my body is feeling stiff, which it usually does from too much time at the computer, then I usually don’t feel ready to exercise or do yoga!
So a good way to combat this is to jump on my chi machine it releases a lot of the stiffness in my body and I just have to lay down and relax.
then my body is much more awake and worked out it’s stiffness and I think yoga is absolutely fabulous for my body! I like hatha yoga. It keeps my muscles so toned and no injury like aerobics classes can have on your body.
I made a hubpage on the chi machine if you are interested:
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on August 5th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I really barely exercise at all, apart from doing Aqua Aerobics once or twice a week when I can. But I really am going to try! Your tips are great, and especially when you say you don’t like it but you still do it anyway. I should be the same! How much exercise do you think you do a day or a week?
on August 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I do not enjoy excersice but without it my bones will grow weak and then where would I be.
Debo Hobos last blog post: Not all destinations require air travel to reach
on August 6th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Also I think it’s important to look at why we don’t like it. For me, actually, I like to exercise. It’s more the inconvenience of exercising I don’t like!
Like figuring out where and how to stop my day and pause to do something good for myself. It’s hard to take a timeout when we feel so pressured to get things done like working, cleaning, etc. Exercise involves timing your next meal. You want to exercise 2 hours after you eat so if you eat breakfast too late, well then that is my ticket out of exercising! and then I already took a shower, so now if I exercise, I may have to take another. It’s the details like that that get me!
So for me it’s all the preparation and time that goes into exercise, not the actual exercise!
So for people like me perhaps we should focus on how to make the whole process and preparation..you know, the timing so that you aren’t interrupting your day too long to get it out of the way!
on August 13th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Thanks for all your comments! They were very helpful!
mspennylane – I try to walk on the treadmill for about 40 minutes 3-4 times a week, but sometimes I can’t it even that much.
on August 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I am a huge fan of exercise.I pretty much do something every day.mon-fri twice a day in the mornings 1hour on the treadmill in the evening 2 and a half hour of resistance training. On saturday kick boxing and on sunday 30 min of rowing or biking.I like being in shape helps me to do everyday things with eas.
on September 5th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Hi
Thanks for sharing the information.All exercises are helpful to become healthy and strong.
These exercises are also very effective for pregant women.