Did the title of this article catch your attention? I hope so. Most of us don't mind finding out new ways to feel better and have more energy. Yet, I'm afraid I'm not going to teach you anything that you don't already know.
Some people talk about the ?benefits? of exercising, such as increasing blood flow to your brain and major organs, improving digestion, reducing stress, increasing alertness, and boosting your immune system. That's a way to look at it.
Another way is that since our bodies are meant to move everyday, so it's not that exercises brings us any ?benefits? - this should be our natural state - but it's more that not exercising actually has negative consequences!
According to an article published in the Health & Fitness sections of the About.com Site, skipping exercise for two days in a row has bad effects on health.
It makes sense that we're meant to live an active life. Being sedentary was not the norm for human beings, even in the Western world, until just a few decades ago.
If you want better health, improved digestion, more energy and love of life, make a commitment to exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY, even if it's just to go out for a 30- minute walk.
Personally, I never had a session of exercise - biking, a long walk, hiking, yoga, weight lifting, or running - that I regretted. Even though I might not have felt like doing it when I started, I never thought to myself, Jeez, I shouldn't have gone for that bike ride or That was such a bad idea to take that yoga class!
***Exercise and Hunger***
When you exercise everyday, you will awaken your ?true hunger.? If you've read my book ?The Raw Secrets,? (http://www.therawsecrets.com) you know the importance of eating when you are truly hungry.
We know for example that hunger is widely recognized as a sign of health. Lack of appetite is also widely recognized as a sign of ill health.
Now, many of you have written to ask about this true hunger concept. Some people say that if they only eat when they are truly hungry, they hardly eat anything at all! Not even enough to sustain them.
The key to awaken this lost sense of hunger is to exercise everyday.
***Walking More for Health***
I'm personally trying to implement a new habit in my life. Every morning after I wake up, I go for a walk. While this is not the only exercise I try to get, it is a great way to start the day.
Otherwise, what I normally do is either start working immediately or check my e- mails. Not a good thing.With the morning walk, it gives me time to wake up, breathe some fresh air, get some exercise, meditate (or something like it), and if I want I can listen to audio-books on my iPod while walking.
Are there many health benefits to walking? Yes, but those are many health benefits of exercising in general. A 1-hour brisk walk with a few hills burns around 300 calories, so as many as a 30 minute jog.
Walk an exercise most people can do and the joys of walking are numerous. Breathing fresh air, taking time to see new places, beautiful surroundings, etc. It's also an exercise most people can do or start doing.
If one day you have absolutely no desire to exercise, go for a 1-hour walk. You'll feel much better afterwards.
A dog needs to walk everyday or else it's not going to stay healthy. Isn't it the same for us?
***Rebounding Exercises for Health***
What exercises can you do on a rainy day? Some people like to go jog in the rain, the mud and the cold. They are the brave ones. I like to watch them from my window. But seriously, that's not my style.
What can you do instead? I found a great workout I can do inside on a rainy do (or when it's too cold to go outside). It's rebounding, a way to exercise that is complete and has several health benefits.
I won't talk about the so-called benefits of cellular exercise. Because of the up- and-down movement of rebounding, apparently the lymph gets moving and this helps to detoxify and slow-down aging. I'm not sure if this is true, but it sounds great.
For me, the real benefits of rebounding is that it's something you can do inside on a rainy day. Plus, it can be a great cardio-endurance-toning workout if you know what to do with the rebounder.
So two tips for rebounding:
1- Get a good rebounder. Not those cheap ones at Walmart. Get something that will last and will give you a real bound. My rebounder is a NEEDAK that I got on E-bay.
2- Get a DVD workout for rebounder. Most people have no idea what to do with their rebounder. I had one for years and the only thing I was doing with it was to jump up and down once in a while, and it got boring. Since then, I got a great DVD which as several workouts, one which is 45 minute long and is great for many aspects of fitness. You can get it from Urban Rebounding, a company that also sells rebounders.
***The Magic of Calisthenics***
Everybody should learn a series of body-weight exercise. Not only are they something you can do anywhere (even when traveling), but they are also great to build strength and endurance.
Calisthenics include pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, and so on, including the thousands of variation on each exercise that can allow you to get the results that you want (strength training or endurance).
In a future article, I will give you a routine of body-weight exercise you can practice anywhere to have a great workout at no cost.
***Multi-Tasking***
Finally, I'd like to add that doing cardio-vascular exercise or walking can be a wonderful way to grow and learn. You can listen to recordings (either on a tape or CD player or iPod) to learn languages, listen to audio books, and learn something useful at the same time.
When I was studying German, Spanish and Portuguese, I was using every single minute I could to listen to language learning methods, including during exercise (but not during sleep!).
Now, I listen to audio books (I have a subscription to Audible - http:// www.audible.com) and learn about things that interest me. I listen to audio-books when I'm on my bike, when I go for a walk, and of course when I drive. I listen to music too, and sometimes I just look at the landscape.
Whether you use this exercise time to also learn and grow is entirely up to you. But keep in mind that daily exercise in a health requirement - and also a great joy!
Young entrepreneur, Frederic Patenaude, is the author of the best-selling e-book ?The Raw Secrets? and is known for his no-gimmick, BS-free approach to health and nutrition. To learn more about ?The Raw Secrets,? and to read his FR*EE how-to articles and newsletter, visit http://www.askfrederic.com
