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If you could get fit with just 30 minutes of work per day, would you go for it?
Is that even possible?
The answer depends on your personal definition of fitness. Your goal dictates the amount of work required.
And that hinges on how much time you have to spend on personal fitness. If you can carve out 30 minutes for a workout (even breaking that up into 10-minute segments throughout the day) is that enough to get you feeling fit?
The good news: short 30-minute workouts can improve your fitness (you could even get fabulously fit)!
In this episode, Dr. G and his guests, physical therapist Luke Greenwell and fitness instructor Paula McBride, discuss how to get started, digging into the details with workout tips and ideas and advice on how to set a fitness goal.
Guests
Myths vs. Facts
“Maintaining physical fitness requires major lifestyle changes.” – Myth
You can be fit in 30 minutes or less. You can even incorporate short bursts of exercise throughout the day.
“Sweating means you’re out of shape.” – Myth
Sweating can mean you’re hydrated and more efficient at getting rid of the heat building up in your body. Sweating can mean you’re in good shape.
“You should stretch before you work out.” – Fact
You should do a dynamic warmup—stretching with movement—before you work out, focusing on the body parts you’re planning to use.
“No pain, no gain.” – Myth
Instead, think: No challenge, no change. Workouts don’t have to be painful. There will be workouts that are uncomfortable, however, as you need to challenge yourself to see change.
“Exercise machines beat free weights.” – Depends
It depends on the person. Some people need the guidance of the machine, they can help regulate movement. Free weights are wonderful because you can work independently. It’s a personal preference.
“It is OK to exercise every day.” – Fact
It’s recommended that we exercise every day. It will improve your overall fitness and wellness.
“To really cinch your waistline, you are better off doing multi-muscle exercises that target every region of your core rather than doing crunches.” – Myth
You can’t spot-reduce parts of your body. To cinch your waistline, you need to do an overall body workout, eat right and get enough sleep.
“A perfect workout is one hour long.” – Myth
Good workouts can be shorter (30 minutes!) or longer than an hour.
“It is important to incorporate recovery days into your workout routine.” – Fact
In general, you should schedule recovery days. If your workout is a daily walk, probably not. But if you’re doing heavy training you will need recovery days.
“Weight loss should be the most important goal of fitness and exercise.” – Myth
The overall goal of exercise and fitness is to help you feel better and live longer. Maintaining a healthy weight is part of a healthy lifestyle, but it’s not the most important goal.
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