6th January – yoga
🧘♀️Do some yoga
I love yoga. However, I must confess that I love it even more in winter when it’s cold, wet and miserable outside and I’m the idea of going out for a run is less appealing than usual. And at the moment with the icy freezing conditions outside, exercise indoors is definitely the way to go!
When I talk about exercise with my patients, most people talk about cardiorespiratory fitness type exercises, running, going to the gym on the treadmill or other machines, or exercise classes – things that get them hot and sweaty, and raise their heart rate and speed up their breathing.
But this type of exercise (which improves cardiorespiratory fitness) is only one aspect to being fit, the other types of exercise are: muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and balance. All these different types of fitness are equally important.
The UK CMO Physical Activity Guidelines suggest that as well as 150min of moderate intensity exercise (or 75min vigorous intensity) per week, adults should also do exercise to build strength on AT LEAST two days per week, and highlights that older adults should also do balance training at least 2days per week.
Interestingly, the US guidelines suggest that healthy adults should do 20-30min PER DAY of “motor skill” training such as tai chi or yoga. So the UK twice a week recommendation is just a starting point – the more you do, the stronger you will be.
Yoga meets the requirement for strength training as it uses the body’s own weight as resistance; it also develops flexibility and balance.
Also, it can be very calming and mindful, especially if done in combination with breathing techniques. However, in my house at the moment, yoga has turned into a joint activity, so it is rather less calming and more comedy.
