February calls for a little check in with your heart health. Are You Glistening?
You know as well as I do how important exercise is for your overall health. It helps mineralize your bones, provides muscle tone for posture, strengthens your heart and circulation, helps the body use insulin more efficiently, helps you sleep better, and is one of the best approaches to dealing with stress.
Fitting in exercise to your already busy day may feel daunting, but it’s not impossible. The trickiest thing is usually making up your mind that it is going to happen. It’s easy to let the rest of your life squeeze the opportunity right out, but the truth is you only need 10 minutes to reap the rewards, as long as you’re consistent. Trust me – 10 minutes will rock your world if you give it your all.
If your workouts are 10 minutes, aim for doing them daily. This will give you about one hour of exercise per week. That’s two Boutique workouts per week. As it all becomes more routine for you, add more time – maybe 15 minutes each workout. That would place you at 3 Boutique workouts per week. So then you can decide, do shorter daily workouts work best in my schedule, or 3 thirty minute workouts per week.
If you’re curious, here’s how I breakdown my weekly workouts:
- 4-5 days a week, I enjoy one intense (shorter) workout like a Boutique Fitness workout or a 10 minute workout from our video library,
- 2-3 days a week, I indulge in a longer ‘recovery’ workout like rowing or a low intensity jog – also known as heart rate running.
- I have a morning mobility routine I do daily, and I add more mobility whenever my body calls for it or even if I’m feeling extra food cravings. Movement can do wonders for keeping cravings at bay.
The lowdown on working out
Generally workouts should be 10 minutes or more.
The shorter the workout, the higher the intensity should be.
The stimulus should change every 3-6 weeks. So if you’ve been doing the same routine for more than 6 weeks, it’s time to shake it up. Either change your routine completely or add intensity with higher reps, more resistance, or more sets.
Make sure you choose exercises you can execute properly. Poor form or range of motion will limit your results. Movement 101
Bodyweight can oftentimes meet the needs of your workout. There is no need to go heavy, but you should progress your weights and/or intensity so you continue to see changes. If all your workouts are bodyweight, you should incorporate some jumping/power.
Most workouts consist of 3-5 sets of exercises for 10-15 repetitions, or :30 – :60.
Staying Consistent
Make an appointment with yourself and stay on track with your workouts.
When planning your workouts, schedule only one rest day into the mix. Life happens and you want to make sure that you get all your workouts in. If you plan for 5-6 days/week, it will usually end up being 4-5 days. Listen to your body and plan accordingly.
Try not to drive yourself crazy with this. Just keep in mind that you should plan to exercise/move every day – even if it’s just for 10 minutes. The goal is to recognize when you can squeeze in workout, and the ultimate goal is to act on it!
Regular exercise builds muscle, and your heart is a muscle. You may have heard me say this before, the magic from your workouts happens during the recovery. Your heart is no different. Boutique Fitness workouts are interval based, with each interval varying in intensity. The intervals place a demand on your cardiovascular system, and between intervals, your heart goes into recovery. This is where the gains are made for cardiac health.
Speaking of recovery, you can’t fully achieve recovery without some solid sleep. This is where your body can shift into a stretch of time that is low stress and conducive to all the essential processes for the brain, heart, and gut to reboot. You may not need as much sleep as I do, but you absolutely need good sleep to thrive. It’s the holy grail for recovery, and it’s good for your heart.
Let’s talk about sweat and why we love it so much. For one, we think people look their most beautiful under the glisten of hard work. But it’s also great for your endocrine system and to stave off water retention.
If I’m being candid, my least favorite moment in a workout is when I’m about to break a sweat. That’s the moment when I have to tell myself that the magic is about to happen and that I need to be all in. That’s the moment I can choose to commit to the intensity that will deliver sweaty glory.
Sweating with exercise is in fact a glorious thing. It means you’ve elevated your body temperature enough for it to kick into gear. You know what that means? Your metabolism also kicks into gear. The really cool thing about our bodies is that they work in systems, so when you kick off an event, like sweating, you kick off a series of events that help keep you healthy in body and mind.
Sweat isn’t exactly your fat melting (good meme though), but it is a solid physiological cue that your body is doing what it should to increase circulation, stimulate lymphatics, excrete toxins, and justify your obsession for work-out clothes.
So seek the sweat in your workout sessions and know that it’s not only gorgeous, it’s important.
When you’re properly hydrated, eating well, and managing stress, sweating will invigorate your skin and help you keep a lasting glow. To take this one step further, add dry brushing to your self care routine.
Dry brushing before getting in the shower – especially after a workout – will do things to your skin that dreams are made of. You’ve already increased your circulation and awakened your skin with your workout, now by adding dry brushing you’ll stimulate all the capillaries at the surface, increasing your circulation even more while removing dead skin cells. An added bonus: this is a game changer for anyone who suffers from Reynauds. True story: I eliminated my Raynaud’s symptoms in my feet by doing this after my winter runs.
How to dry brush: Using a good quality body brush, start at the toes and brush up toward the heart with quick strokes. Work your way up your legs and then move on to the hands and arms. Brush counter clockwise on your stomach and then from your neck down. The first time is the toughest, but you’ll soon fall in love with how it makes you feel and you’ll welcome the ‘exfoliation’.
A little tip, once you’ve brushed your whole body, close your eyes and stand still. You’ll feel your skin thanking you 😉
Happy Heart Health Month! xo
