5-minute read
How Exercise Helps Your Cholesterol
Have you been active enough lately? I’ve just started running again after a year or so of dealing with Plantar Fasciitis in my left foot. I ran 6 miles every day in 2020 and never felt better. For some people, exercise and being active enough are difficult questions to answer. The decline of people who engage in physical activity has contributed heavily to the rising occurrences of high LDL cholesterol and being overweight. After extensive studies, science has proven that there are specific ties between the amount of activity a person engages in and their levels of LDL cholesterol.
What’s the Best Exercise for Cholesterol?
One of the first things to consider for this will be what kind of exercise you should do. After years of study, researchers have discovered that a combination of cardiovascular exercise and resistance training has been the most effective at preventing heart disease. This means that the two methods together are almost always going to be more effective when paired. As your metabolism ramps up, your body will burn fats more efficiently.
Start Off Small and Easy
NOW that you’ve decided on what you want to do, you’re going to have to execute the plan. Once you have an exercise you like, it’s important to realize that you won’t be able to fix everything in one day. You will have to be patient and start off small. This will make it a lot safer so that you are less likely to sustain some kind of injury. Go slow and be sure that you know how to perform each movement correctly.
How Long Should I Exercise?
You’re probably already at the point where you are asking yourself the above question. The answer from some heart specialists suggests that you would want to exercise for at least 40 minutes, at least 3 times a week. Alternating between intense and moderate workouts can also give you great results that lower your cholesterol and help you to lose weight or inches.
Staying Motivated
Remember that it is always more important to stay the course than to try and beat your records. You want to be challenged but proper self-care means you must keep your goals within the realm of being attentive to your needs and staying safe from injury. For some people, having the added motivation of waiting friends can get you out of bed or off the couch to go enjoy some sunshine and healthy recreation. Champions enjoy the challenges together and motivate from within. My 96-year-old mother and I walked every day around her sunny little Florida neighborhood. I ran 6 miles each morning, long before she was even out of bed.
Always have some kind of backup plan or a simple exercise that you can do anywhere to get that fitness time in because you don’t want to be slowed down by the weather. It’s easy enough to find an excuse but, remember, we are in this for the long haul.
We are creating a new NOW together. What are you choosing to work on NOW?
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Thanks for being in my new year NOW.