§ We came to this world to LIVE OUT LOUD!

Less Exercise is Better Than More Exercise!

Mar 2, 2021

When my body started to break down last year, I did some digging and found out that I actually needed to exercise less! Seriously!
As I mentioned in last week’s post, I was not happy when my body started breaking down about a year ago. Weird aches and pains. Severe knee inflammation. Uncomfortable gastric issues.
Especially when it meant that I had to ride on the back of a motorcycle, while the group of ten women I was traveling with hiked the mountains near Oaxaca, Mexico.
I’m very active and want to live with vibrant health, passion, energy and zest until I’m at least 100, so I had to get into action. It takes effort to be an ageless woman!
So… I investigated. I talked to health experts – doctors, naturopaths, healers, nutrition experts, exercise gurus – and I made some changes in my life:

How and what I eat and drink!

How and when I exercise!

Shifted my mental paradigm around getting older!

In this post, I want to share with you about the changes I made in how and when I exercise.

The great news – It turns out that less is more!

As I interviewed experts in physical fitness (women like Debra Atkinson and Dr. Jessica Drummond), I learned that as we get into our peri-menopausal years and beyond, we need to exercise differently (and often less) than we did before.

We need to focus on 3 key elements in our physical fitness routines:
Strength
Flexibility
Balance
And we need to not overdo it.
Working out like you’re training for a triathlon on a regular basis can apparently actually cause more harm than good. Working out too hard:
R
Puts strain on our bodies
R
Releases cortisol (the stress hormone) which messes with our hormones, decreases metabolism and causes havoc in our nervous systems
R
Makes us more prone to injury

I learned that at this stage of life we need to workout less and smarter.

Yep, less time exercizing for more benefits! How great is that?
Based on all of my research, here’s the workout routine I adopted:

1. 20 to 30 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) – 3X week

HIIT workouts generally combine short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest or lower-intensity exercise. One of the biggest advantages of HIIT is that you can get maximal health benefits in minimal time.

Healthline lists the benefits of HIIT:

1. HIIT can burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time – HIIT may help you burn more calories than traditional exercise, or burn the same amount of calories in a shorter amount of time.

2. Your metabolic rate is higher for hours after exercise – Due to the intensity of the workout, HIIT can elevate your metabolism for hours after exercise. This results in additional calories being burned even after you have finished exercising.

3. It can help you lose fat – High-intensity intervals can produce similar fat loss to traditional endurance exercise, even with a much smaller time commitment.

4. You gain muscle using HIIT – although not as much as by lifting weights.

5. HIIT can improve oxygen consumption – High-intensity interval training can improve oxygen consumption (your muscles’ ability to use oxygen) as much as traditional endurance training, even if you only exercise about half as long.

6. It can reduce heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar.

Basically, lots of benefits in half the time!
I just googled HIIT training videos for women over 40 (or over 50, etc) and many popped up. It’s been fun to try out different exercise routines and use muscles I haven’t used in years!
It’s amazing what changing it up does for the psyche as well! I’m proud of myself and feel younger in spirit too!

2. Doing core work, lifting weights, yoga and going for a walk – 3X week (1 hour)

It’s important to give our bodies rest in between days of HIIT, but that doesn’t mean doing nothing! It’s important to move every single day! That’s why I:

1. Do core work – Core exercises train the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen to work in harmony. This leads to better balance and stability and makes it easier to do most physical activities. All it takes is 10 to 15 minutes of core exercises 3X week to reap the benefits.

2. Lift weights – Weight training helps slow down the muscle muscle-mass loss that happens when as we get older. It also helps to speed tup he metabolic rate and strengthen the bones.

3. Do yoga – According to Life Hack, yoga:

– Improves strength
– Increases flexibility
– Benefits balance
– Is good for your heart
– Is good for your bones
– Reduces anxiety and sharpens the mind

4. Go for a 30-minute walk in my local park – Getting outside, breathing fresh air and moving does wonders for your body, mind and spirit. Period.

3. Going for a hike or a long walk (60 minutes+) – 1X week

Getting out in nature and moving for a longer period of time just magnifies the benefits a shorter walk. Doing it with a friend or a partner also ads some much needed social time.
The changes I made to how I work out have been amazing!

I spend much less time working out than I used to yet I feel stronger, healthier and more confident. I now know I can hike for hours with no knee pain, or hip pain later.

It’s been fun to get out of the exercise rut and try new things and new activities too.

What about you? How do you like to move your body? What works to keep you in shape?

Check back next week as I share with you how the mental paradigm shifts I made around getting older are helping me become an ageless woman!

I love connecting with you! Leave a comment below or send me an email at natalie@nataliematushenko.com.

Happy Tuesday!

 xoxo,

Natalie

 

P.S. My free Wisdom Wednesday Series starts tomorrow!

3 to 10-minute easily actionable videos in which 40+ world-renowned experts will share with you what you can do during these unprecedented times to increase well-being and create your extraordinary life!

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