Blog
Why being active is good for us
Most of us would be able to answer the question ‘why being active is good for us?’ The benefits are promoted often, “strengthen bones and muscles, improve our brain health, weight management, relaxation, improve sleep quality” to name a few. Being able to name them doesn’t make it any easier to determine which exercise to do.
We see many exercises marked with acronyms such as HIIT or LIIT, what do they mean and does it matter which one we do?
HIIT is high intensity interval training, which involves intense workouts, such as doing press ups or jumping jacks at full speed for between 15 seconds to 4 minutes. This is then followed by a quick recovery period then straight back into the next drill.
LIIT is low intensity interval training, also repeated bouts, however much lower intensity exercises combined with longer periods of rest in between, such as dancing, swimming, walking.
Studies over the years have identified and highlighted the benefits of both. Which one is better for you will depend on your fitness levels, what you enjoy doing, and what you’re trying to gain from it.
HIIT exercises provide many benefits, improved stamina, improved strength, burning lots of fat during and after your workout, keeps your heart healthy and strengthens your bones. You can gain all these benefits from many exercises, however HIIT allows you to gain them by exercising for a shorter, intense, period of time.
LIIT provides an accessible workout for a variety of fitness levels, and is a good place to start for introducing an exercise plan, or if you want to exercise but not with the intensity of HIIT.
Including LIIT workouts to our daily exercise is relatively simple. For example, if you go for a 30 minute walk, change it into LIIT by adding short bursts of intensity. When I say short bursts I’m only talking of about 90 seconds, then slowing it down again to your normal pace. This will increase your heart rate slightly but not too much.
Some of the benefits of exercise
Exercise produces endorphins, ‘feel good’ chemicals to our brain, which is why we feel happier after exercise. It also increases our heart rate, increasing blood flow to our brain, triggering norepinephrine, a chemical which can help the brain deal with stress more effectively.
Increasing the amount of oxygen and nutrients to our tissues helps our cardiovascular system work more effectively, improving heart and lung health, providing us with more energy during our normal day.
Exercises to try at home
Bonsai Chi drills are low-impact, whole body exercise, which can be done as slow or fast as you like. If you wish to increase your heart rate perform them at a faster pace which you feel comfortable with. Or slow it down if you’d prefer, it’s entirely your choice.
Keep both feet flat on the floor, back straight, it’s your arms natural reach. I hope you enjoy following it.
Wadō Ryū karate kata provide us with the opportunity to learn a lot of techniques, principles and movements in a short space of time. Whilst often done slowly to allow us to understand the intricacies and improve our performance of them, when practised through at full speed it encourages us to breathe correctly, tensing at the correct moment, being fully aware of everything around us.
Kushanku is our longest kata, if we don’t breathe correctly during it we get to the end and find we’re gasping for breath!