One thing that I (almost) always ask my new patients about is their exercise habits. From person to person there can be a huge discrepancy. One patient earlier this week mentioned that they "rarely" exercise (upon further questioning I realized that "rarely" really means "almost never") and another patient is preparing for their 6th marathon, and another focuses the majority of their time on strengthening exercises. Those are three VERY different approaches to exercise. Which approach is the right approach? It is safe to assume the "rarely" exercise path is not the ideal option, but is cardio or strength training more important.
It Depends
The follow-up question that will tell you which answer is right is "Why do you exercise?" Over the past several months a couple of patients fired the question back at me! It made me stop and think for a minute about why I train. I came to the realization that I am no longer training for the vain reasons that I may have trained for in the past, and now I train so that when I am 70 years old and my girls tell me that I should not do something, I can look at them and say "Why do you think that I have been training for the past 60 years? I have been training so that I can! Now get out of my way!"
Take a moment and ask yourself "why am I exercising?" Then make sure that you exercise habits are helping you to meet those goals! If you need help do making sure that your goals and your habits are in alignment, let us know. We would be happy to help!
Our next session of the Freedom Kettlebell Club starts up next week!
Movement is my medicine,
