Doing a Micro Workout Can Boost Fat Metabolism By 43%—Here's How to Do It

Turns out, there might be another solution for staying healthy when it feels like you don't have time to exercise. The evidence for short bursts of activity has been mounting for some time. (Remember the 7-minute workout?) But now there's research showing that even really small sessions can have bona fide benefits. They're called exercise snacks. "And they're somewhere between that short walk to the water cooler in pre-pandemic times and high-intensity interval training," says Scott Lear, Ph.D., the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Think: challenging enough to jack up your heart rate, but only a minute or less at a time—such as 20 seconds of squat jumps, stair climbing, burpees or a fast 60-second run down your block.

These short-and-sweet exercise snacks help build cardiorespiratory fitness, a major indicator of overall health. "Increasing your cardiorespiratory fitness can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease," says a professor of kinesiology. One study Gibala was involved in,  had inactive young adults do 20-second bike "sprint snacks" in which they pedaled as fast as they could. Participants repeated these mini workouts three times a day, each separated by one to four hours of rest. After six weeks, their cardiorespiratory fitness improved by 9%—similar to the 13% increase a second group got by doing the same sprints within longer 10-minute cycling sessions. Other research found that sedentary but healthy women improved their cardiorespiratory fitness by doing just 20 seconds of vigorous stair climbing three times a day for three weeks. "The precise reasons why exercise snacks work has yet to be determined, but they may improve the heart's pumping capacity and ability to transport oxygen throughout the body," says Gibala. They also appear to improve markers of insulin sensitivity and lower triglycerides.

Current exercise guidelines call for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week (or a combination of the two), which is a far cry from what you'd get from an exercise snack. But doing a few micro workouts can be a good alternative for those days you can't fit in your regular routine. "The message now is anything is better than nothing, and every little bit counts," says Gibala.

No matter your fitness level, exercise snacks are an option for everyone. While inactive people stand to gain the most from them, Gibala says that even gym-going folks with desk jobs can reap the rewards. "Structured daily exercise doesn't negate the harmful effects of sitting for much of the day," he explains. "So these snacks can help break up sedentary periods."

Preliminary research suggests that among people who typically sit for eight hours per day, those who completed five 4-second cycling sprints every hour during the workday (for a total of 160 seconds of exercise) had 31% lower triglyceride levels and 43% higher body-fat metabolism the next day. How's that for a satisfying snack?

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How to Regain Strength After COVID-19

As more people recover from COVID-19 across the country, many are facing another uphill challenge: rebuilding the physical strength and cardiorespiratory endurance lost during long hospital stays or weeks in bed.

Depending on the severity of their illness, this can take weeks to months, says Anne Felicia Ambrose, M.D., an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, and director of research at the Montefiore Medical Center's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Bronx, New York.

In many cases, those over 65 will be on the longer end of that time frame. “Older adults are different in many respects, compared with younger adults, and that affects recovery,” Ambrose says. For one thing, the health and functionality of various organ systems — including the cardiovascular and respiratory systems — start to decline after age 35, and the rate of decline increases more in the 60s and 70s.

"So older adults are  starting at a different baseline with COVID,” she notes. In addition, the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes increases as people get older, and these conditions can both worsen COVID-19 and make recovery more challenging.

The prolonged inactivity that can occur with a severe illness such as COVID-19 can also accelerate the natural loss of muscle strength in older adults, Ambrose says. And “with prolonged bed rest, people can lose range of motion and their sense of balance.”

The good news: With the right physical activities — and time — these abilities can be regained. While those coming back from the most severe cases will face rehabilitation in a care setting, others will be sent home to get stronger on their own. Here, doctors and physical therapists share what the process involves.

Start with breathing exercises

Many COVID-19 patients will need to start with breathing exercises, at least twice per day, before moving on to other types of exercise. The goal, Ambrose explains, is to strengthen the muscles involved in respiration, which COVID-19 has weakened.

Each session should include two minutes of deep-breathing exercises (slowly breathing in through your nose, allowing your belly to fill with air, then slowly exhaling through your nose) and two minutes of pursed-lip breathing (inhaling through your nose for two seconds with your mouth closed, then exhaling through pursed lips for four seconds, as if you were blowing out candles).

Once you've been fever-free and without shortness of breath or leg swelling for at least seven days, you can start with walking or using an exercise bike to strengthen your cardiorespiratory system, says Robert Gillanders, a physical therapist and spokesman for the American Physical Therapy Association who is based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Start with 10 minutes at a comfortable pace — so you're not out of breath, Ambrose advises — then gradually increase to 20, then 30 minutes at a time. Once you start feeling stronger, you can intersperse 30-second bouts of faster walking throughout your routine.

"When someone is really debilitated, it can be hard to see measurable changes from exercise,” Gillanders says. “Keep an activity log — it helps you see incremental changes” that can help you stay motivated to continue the physical activity.

To rebuild physical strength and functionality, it's especially important to target the hips and legs, says Andrew DeLeon, a home health physical therapist with Stella Maris, a long-term care and nursing home facility in Timonium, Maryland. To do that, start with these exercises:

Ankle pumps: Lie on your back with your legs fully extended. Point your toes straight up toward the ceiling, then point them down so your toes are parallel to the floor or bed. Repeat, gradually building up to eight repetitions at a time.

Sit-to-stand: Start by sitting on the edge of a chair or bed, with your feet flat on the floor, and place the back of a sturdy chair in front of your knees. Stand up while reaching for the back of the chair, pause at the top, then sit down again. Start with two to three repetitions, gradually increasing to eight.

Bridges: Lie on your back on a bed or the floor, with your knees bent, your feet flat on the bed or floor and your arms by your sides. As you tighten your core, lift your hips off the floor until they are in line with your knees and shoulders; pause at the top, then lower your hips again. Start with two to three repetitions, gradually increasing to five.

Partial squats: Stand facing a countertop or the back of a sturdy chair, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Slowly bend both knees, pushing your hips back as if you were going to sit in a chair behind you, but stop when your butt gets halfway to knee level. (Use the counter or chair in front of you for balance, if you need to.) Hold the squat for eight seconds, then slowly stand up again. Start with two to three repetitions, gradually increasing to eight.

Once these moves become easy for you, it's time to add more strengthening exercises that will support the activities you do in daily life. 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement