You rush home from work to get a start on dinner, and then throw a load of clothes in the washer before heading out the door. You dash to the soccer field to fetch your son from practice, and your daughter from her dance class, before returning home to finish preparing dinner. After the family has eaten, there are dishes to clean and put away, laundry to finish, homework to help with, and bills to pay. You would be lucky to be able to find a moment to yourself, let alone find the time for a regular exercise routine.
But you also know how much better you feel after you get in a good workout. Even the busiest of schedules can surely afford you the time to give yourself 15 minutes of exercise every day. But is 15 minutes of exercise really beneficial? It is if you choose the right exercise.
15 minute exercise routines can be beneficial if the exercise you choose gets your heart rate up quickly, and you maintain that level for at least 15 minutes per workout. Exercises such as aerobics, power lifting, weight training, cardio-workouts, stair climbers, treadmills, and running are all good exercise choices to get your heart rate up quickly, and to a level that benefits your fitness and health.
The heart is a muscle and when you perform exercises that cause this important muscle to work harder, several things occur which are beneficial to the overall fitness and health of your body. As your heart works harder, larger amounts of blood and oxygen are forced through the heart and then through the veins that deliver blood to the rest of the body. The force and quantity of blood produced by an exercising heart keeps plaque particles (a byproduct of fat stored in the body) moving through the veins before they can congregate together and attach themselves to vein walls. A collection of this plaque on the walls of veins, blocks proper blood flow, and this leads to heart attacks and strokes.
As your heart works harder, your lungs will be working harder to provide the oxygen the heart needs through more respirations. Flooding the lungs with oxygen through breathing expands lungs so that they can hold more oxygen. When the body has more oxygen, it has the energy it needs to produce more of the hormones that help our bodies to function. Hormones help everything from internal organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, and the nervous and immune systems to perform the tasks that keep us alive. These hormones are also responsible for creating and adding balance to our emotions. Exercise produces more of these hormones in the body and this is why we feel so good after exercising, even with just 15 minutes of exercise.
Finding the time in your schedule for daily exercise, even just 15 minutes of exercising, should be as important to you as the other things you do to keep yourself healthy. Just as important as eating balanced, nutritious meals, taking vitamins, seeing your doctor for annual health check-ups, reducing the stress in your life, developing an optimistic outlook on life, and getting enough of the rest your body needs to repair and maintain itself, all contribute to your overall health.
Take a look around our website www.personalpowertraining.net to see a selection of the exercise DVD’s, books, nutritional supplements, health products, and exercise equipment you can use to get the most from 15 minute exercise routines. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about what products would work best for 15 minutes of exercising.
