Exercise is not always about weight loss. Put physical and emotional health for your reason to exercise.
Are you a yo-yo exerciser?
Are you a yo-yo exerciser?
If you work hard to get the body you want, only to let your training regime slip once you've reached your goal, you could be damaging your health.
You’ve squatted, lunged and crunched your way to a beautiful beach body, but now your holiday’s over, you’re tempted to take a break from exercise. And with autumn just around the corner, the lure of tights and raincoats may entice you to put off your training even longer – at least until the festive season prompts a return to the gym for a party dress quick-fix.
If this stop-start approach to exercise sounds familiar, you may be a yo-yo exerciser – someone who shuns regular exercise for bursts of intense activity, to achieve a weight-loss goal.
Yo-yo exercising is on the increase because our ‘get it quick’ society leads women to think they can get instant results, believes Kathryn Freeland, managing director of Absolute Fitness.
If this stop-start approach to exercise sounds familiar, you may be a yo-yo exerciser – someone who shuns regular exercise for bursts of intense activity, to achieve a weight-loss goal.
Yo-yo exercising is on the increase because our ‘get it quick’ society leads women to think they can get instant results, believes Kathryn Freeland, managing director of Absolute Fitness.
‘Women exercise or diet intensively for a period, but it’s not sustainable so they stop,’ she says.
‘They also fail to set realistic goals for how often they can fit exercise into their week or think about what they will enjoy doing.’ It’s not surprising we’ve acquired this quick-fix attitude to exercise.
We all want a great body now, not in a few months’ time, but this short-term approach can wreak-havoc with your fitness, and your health.
‘There’s nothing wrong with “upping” your exercise and then going back to your usual level, but giving up completely is damaging to your mental and emotional well-being,’ says Freeland.
It’s disheartening to see your weight and energy levels yo-yo along with your fitness regime and, without the consistent results of regular exercise, it’s easy to lack the motivation to return to your workouts.
Physical toll
We all want a great body now, not in a few months’ time, but this short-term approach can wreak-havoc with your fitness, and your health.
‘There’s nothing wrong with “upping” your exercise and then going back to your usual level, but giving up completely is damaging to your mental and emotional well-being,’ says Freeland.
It’s disheartening to see your weight and energy levels yo-yo along with your fitness regime and, without the consistent results of regular exercise, it’s easy to lack the motivation to return to your workouts.
Physical toll
Yo-yo exercising can have a negative effect on your body, too.
Research published by the American Physiological Society shows that irregular exercise may mean you store
more fat at times of inactivity to prepare for the intense activity which follows. It’s well known that people who don’t take regular exercise have higher blood pressure and a higher percentage of body fat, and not only is this unhealthy, it’s difficult to reduce with short bursts of exercise.
more fat at times of inactivity to prepare for the intense activity which follows. It’s well known that people who don’t take regular exercise have higher blood pressure and a higher percentage of body fat, and not only is this unhealthy, it’s difficult to reduce with short bursts of exercise.
On top of this, intense exercise can also put a strain on your heart if your body isn’t used to it.
The Office of National Statistics’ 2012 report, Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week. But being sedentary for months at a time then leaping into a new training regime doesn’t count, and won’t work in the long term. The fitter you are, the more energy you’ll expend during exercise, because you’ll be able to tolerate higher intensities for longer and can oxidize more fat. So, staying consistently fit will help shift the extra weight.
As Hart says, ‘When you make wearing a size 10 dress your priority, exercise will be the first thing you ditch when you reach that goal. When you put your physical, emotional or mental health first, exercise becomes part of your life.’
The Office of National Statistics’ 2012 report, Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week. But being sedentary for months at a time then leaping into a new training regime doesn’t count, and won’t work in the long term. The fitter you are, the more energy you’ll expend during exercise, because you’ll be able to tolerate higher intensities for longer and can oxidize more fat. So, staying consistently fit will help shift the extra weight.
As Hart says, ‘When you make wearing a size 10 dress your priority, exercise will be the first thing you ditch when you reach that goal. When you put your physical, emotional or mental health first, exercise becomes part of your life.’
(article source: Health & Fitness Magazine UK - September 2012)
