Ok, I get it. If I want to lose weight, I need cardio. Understood. If I need cardio and have no equipment at home, I just need to go for a run, they say. Ok, fine. So, I run and get my heart rate up and that’s supposed to do the trick. What about my knees, my hips, my back, my FEET?!?!? Everything hurts. Does that mean it’s working? Or…am I going about it all wrong?
Running might be great for some and if you are looking to train for a marathon, more power to you! I wish that was the fix for everyone who wants to get lean and toned. I needed to figure out what kinds of things I could do to lose weight without the high impact pain. As I was searching around, I found this article from Runners World. They say “your body is made to run” but is that really true for everyone? I don’t think so. If I was being chased, I could run, but I have been an awkward runner my entire life. Just ask the kids in my elementary gym class! It has never felt “right”.
Walking is my answer. I can walk at a fairly fast pace and not feel any of the pain that running brings. It has been proven that walking is just as good as running when it comes to the benefits for your heart so I’ll roll with that. Data from the National Runners’ Health Study and the National Walkers’ Health Study and found that people who expended the same amount of calories saw many of the same health benefits. Regardless of whether they were walking or running, individuals saw a reduced risk of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and improved better cardiovascular health. I know I might have to walk for twice as long as I would run but that’s is a small price to pay for the big win of not having all the other pain. I am not getting any younger here, people. I want to pay attention to what my body needs. I want to reduce my risk of cardiovascular disease without hurting myself.
So, running… yeah, go ahead. I know it works for some. Walking is the way to go and I think there should be more info out there about walking linking us to information like this one, telling us that walking is man’s best medicine!
In his article Five reasons riding an ebike isn’t cheating Justin Duckman explains why riding an ebike isn’t cheating. He explains the physical benefits citing to research done by Bringham Young University explaining that riders with pedal assist had heart rates around 145bpm which was just 10 beats less than conventional riders.
I found this blog article on www.radpowerbikes.com. I believe that the author is incredibly biased in his writing and I know it for a fact because I too am biased on the subject. In April of 2020 just after the pandemic I was already in the market for a high-quality bike. I had tried out an ebike back in the summer of 2019 and was in love but the price tag threw me at 3k. I waited, researched and found much more reasonable rad power bikes. I bought one and have been riding it since June of 2020. I also talked my partner into using his Trumpcheck into buying one. I’m in sales so I laid it on pretty thick in convincing him. One month after owning it he said to me as we were riding “I’m really glad we bought these bikes.” With the pandemic and not being able to travel which is our first passion I knew we were going to have to find something to do around where we live to occupy our summer and riding bikes has been it.
Our friends laugh when we tell them we have electric bikes and some say we are cheating and that it isn’t really riding. We also get looks from people on the trails when we pass them going 20mph up steep hills. At least I think we get looks from them, it’s hard to tell from our rear-view mirrors we installed. All joking aside I think the point of owning a bike is so that you can travel further and see more and be outside longer. In September I got up to 1k miles on my bike after just owning it since June. If I would have bought a traditional bike there is no way I would have ridden it this much.
I’ve been able to see some gorgeous trails in Minnesota this year. Is it cheating? It depends on what your goal is in riding a bike in the first place. Yes, a traditional bike may have given me a better workout but working out was never my goal.
In the United States today, there are gyms in every major city. The proliferation of gym membership is due to the motivation people have to exercise. Some people are motivated to the point that their gym membership is connected to their bank account.
Happy Birthday (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On the other hand, those who cannot afford gym membership go running in city parks, or exercise at home. They all exercise regularly in an effort to retain good health, without better health, the chance of living longer is very slim. Since people are exercising regularly to escape death, one can easily determine that celebrating birthday is no different from celebrating death.
As birthdays come and go, so does your life span. The more birthdays you celebrate, the lesser time you have to live. Imagine the car you drive to work was very new when you bought it. It had zero miles on it, but the fact remains that your job is 60 miles away from home; just to go to work and back home cover at least 120 miles per day, and you work five days a week. This increases the age of your car on a weekly basis. As the age of the car increases through the numbers of miles on it, the value depreciate, this is the same with your age; every minute in your life reduces your life span.
This is the same with celebrating your birthday, the more years you celebrate, the closer you come to death. This being the case, why celebrate death under the pretext of birthday? This is something you need to look at carefully.
It is my belief that this day should be a sad day instead of lavishing money on something that does not bring you happiness, but death. So use your money wisely, don’t waste it on celebrating that brings you closer to death.
I have been going to Bodyflow classes over the last year. Bodyflow combines Yoga, Pilates, and Tai Chi in an hour long workout. My newfound love for this routine causes me to suggest others to try it.
One day, I got a response I wasn’t quite expecting. “I don’t do Yoga because it goes against my Christianity.” I was taken aback when I was told that Yoga, if done incorrectly, can cause demons in the body.
I don’t consider myself to be religious, so I was unthreatened by this. But it interested me that an exercise could be thought of as a breach in Christianity.
I found this website and was surprised to read there is a wide range of people who firmly believe this.
Yoga practiced in gyms is so Americanized that it doesn’t seem to have the same Buddhist religious roots as traditional Yoga. In my opinion, Yoga practiced at your local YMCA might as well have a different name slapped on it because it is not technically Yoga.
If practiced without prayers or meditation, how would it be considered un-Christian?
However, it’s a personal choice whether or not you deem practicing an exercise a sin. I guess if it is, I am going to hell with amazing flexibility and range of motion.
MDST 485 Class Blog 