Getting Fit – The Easy Way

by Christine Cronau

I am going to tell you how you can get fit with very little effort, but first I am going to tell you why it works.

While it is true that many people aren’t moving enough, and a sedentary lifestyle isn’t recommended, those who are moving are often working too hard.  We were designed to have balance.  Our ancestors were active and moved regularly; however, most of their movement was slow, unless they happened to be chasing prey.

Life was slow-paced for our ancestors.  There was no TV or other electronic devices, no jobs to rush off to, no commuting, and no fast-paced exercise classes.  If you think about what a person would have witnessed during his or her day of work back then, they could have easily described every detail of their day within a few minutes.  If you compare that to the life we live today with the hundreds of events we experience in a day, it is a very different lifestyle.

The best way to describe natural balance is with the eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang.  Yin helps us build energy (recharge our energy stores).  Yang is a strong output of energy.  We are designed to have an equal balance of both, but these days, we have a strong domination of yang.

Examples of yin activities include:

Yoga

Pilates

Meditation

Slow breathing

Resting

Massage

Internal martial arts like Tai Qi or Qi Gong

Stretching

Examples of yang activities include:

Running

Cycling

Fast-paced exercise classes like RPM, body combat, aerobics, or zumba

External martial arts like Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or Kung Ku

Rushing in the mornings

Rushing throughout the day

Stress

Nervousness or anxiety

Fast-paced jobs

Eating food on the run

Mind-chatter (thinking about what you need to do, when, and what could go wrong, and what

did go wrong, and who really pissed you off, etc)

As you can see, most people are too yang.  Does it matter?  Yes. Too much yang energy burns out our adrenal glands.  It is like using a battery over and over again, without recharging it.  Eventually, it runs low, and doesn’t have the power to work effectively.  And then, it runs out completely.  We need to re-charge, just like a battery, so that we can keep living with energy and vitality.  Most people don’t realise just how burnt out they are, and just how hard their adrenals are overworked.  This causes many issues later in life.  One obvious symptom is chronic fatigue, but there are many others, including hormone imbalance.  Women make the appropriate level of hormones to help them function well, and once their own natural hormones decrease, the adrenals kick in and take over hormone production.  What happens if you have burnt out adrenals?  You guessed it.  Hormone imbalance and severe peri-menopausal or menopausal symptoms, when otherwise there wouldn’t be.  Some of the major symptoms of hormone imbalance during this crucial time are depression, complete lack of energy, and no lustre for life.  What an awful way to go through your prime years; your 40′s and beyond.

What is the answer?  There is nothing wrong with yang exercise, and in fact, it is meant to be part of our lives.  But we do need a balance, and time to recharge.  Replacing some of our yang activities with yin activities is a great start.  The best way to do that is to eliminate stress and rushing around.  We can still achieve an enormous amount, and in fact, often a lot more, if we are calm, and move slowly through life.  Regular meditation is a great way to slow down.  As you move through the day, become more conscious of what you are doing moment to moment, and enjoy it; stop thinking about what happened previously and what will happen.  Then some yang exercise is a great way to release energy, emotion, and get fit.

So how do we get fit with little effort?  We don’t need to exercise hard to get fit.  In fact, we can be fit with much less effort than we think.

I recommend everyone do weights to keep their bones strong, especially later in life.  But, I do them slightly differently than most people.  I recommend getting a trainer at first, just so you can learn how to do the basic exercises in the correct position.  However, after that, you can continue on your own.  I used to train twice a week, but now I only lift weights once a week to maintain my strength.  I know many people who train 5 or 6 days in the gym, and we are fairly comparable in how we look, even though I am in the gym only a fraction of the time.  That being said, my diet helps me burn more fat and build more muscle, so I have an advantage.  More about that later.

Many people think that they need to run long distances or do a lot of cardio to burn fat, but that isn’t the case.  The easiest and most effective way to do cardio is to do the following type of interval training.

1.     Go as hard as you can for 30 seconds to 1 minute (make sure you can breathe through your nose. If you get puffed, breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Mouth breathing, or panting, is a sign that your body is stressed).

2.     Rest for 2 to 3 minutes (until you feel you can do it again).

3.     Repeat steps 1 and 2 four or five times.

The best way to do this is using something that emulates a natural movement, like a rowing machine, or skipping.  Treadmills aren’t natural, so aren’t the best option.

Using this method, you will burn more fat, and be fitter than if you were using the traditional slow options, like running on a treadmill for 40 or 50 minutes.

And, the amount of physical effort needed is minimal.  If you chose the 1 minute option, and repeated 5 times, your total effort would be grand total of 5 minutes!  As you get better, you can increase to 2 minute intervals, but it isn’t necessary.  This process only takes approximately 20 minutes; a perfect warm up before your weight session.  Martial arts and similar sports naturally train in intervals, but obviously the intervals are longer and harder.

And, the secret to maintaining a great weight is all in the diet.  Most people are at a strong disadvantage because a lot of the foods they are eating actually make them gain weight instead of losing weight, or maintaining a good weight.  There is a lot of misinformation in the fitness industry about nutrition, but with the right information, it is simple to maintain a good weight.  Great Health is a Piece of Cake busts all the major food myths keeping us from reaching our wellness and fitness goals.  It contains information about the right foods that burn fat and help build muscle.

Note: When weight-training, avoid the machines; they isolate large muscles, which doesn’t emulate natural movement, is less effective, and can cause injuries.  Use free weights.  The best exercises are squats, dead-lifts (only when trained correctly), lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, and a variety of bicep and tricep exercises.  Cable machines are great for emulating natural movement, and are great for working out your core.  Also, many trainers don’t actually teach the best technique, so shop around, choose someone who looks very fit, whose clients look fit, and who come highly recommended when it comes to good technique.