Akron Life February 2022

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Roger Derr boxing

Full Scale Fitness Trainers

MUSCLE THROUGH

Eating a healthy diet is impor tant, but so is working out your heart muscles. The American Heart Association recommends balancing your cal orie intake and physical activity level to help maintain a healthy weight. Plus, aerobic exercise that works your cardiovascu lar system can help keep your blood pressure, cholesterol and oxygen levels in check, while preventing blockages. “Exercise is so important because it’s something that we’re able to change ourselves and prevent so many chronic diseases,” says Quinn Butler, a clinical exer cise physiologist at Full Scale Fitness, adding that those can include diabetes and cardiovas cular disease. Remember that everyone is different and to consult a medical professional before starting new exercise if you have preexisting cardiovas cular diseases or symptoms. To ease into it, follow a simple rule: “Whatever it is that you’re currently doing, just try to do more,” Butler says. A quick way to raise your heart rate during simple exercises is to

move your arms while walking or hold extra weight while squatting. “You can do bodyweight strength training exercises at home, but if you do it at a faster pace, it then becomes cardio,” says Andy Hanson, the owner and head trainer at Full Scale Fitness, adding that it’s OK if you don’t have weights at home. “Grab a couple soup cans and hold them overhead.” Do whatever you enjoy, like jogging, swimming, dancing or yardwork. Hanson mentions a client in his 90s, Roger Derr, who boxes at home. “He loves it,” Hanson says, “and so for him, that’s our way of making sure he stays fit.” However you decide to crank up your heart rate, aim to do it for 150 minutes per week. If that’s not possible, try exercising in small chunks of around 10 minutes, working up to more lengthy sessions. “Anything is acceptable,” Butler says. “It’s moving more, sitting less.”

Other healthy foods to try throughout the day might

“There’s a lot of different cases where it can be very detrimental, the misinformation,” he says. “We want to go to the science and the organizations that have the hard facts and the actual data to support it.” As long as you’re sourcing your information responsibly and doing what’s best for you indi vidually, altering your diet can help you see benefits. “If they implement these kinds of changes, their blood pressure will probably be more under control. Their blood sugar could become more under control,” he says. “Overall, just feeling better and healthier.”

include peanut butter on whole grain toast with eggs for break fast, lean meat and quinoa for dinner, a handful of almonds as a snack and Greek yogurt with dark chocolate chips and rasp berries for dessert. Although it can be helpful to search for recipes and inspira tion online, Schwarz cautions that there is a lot of diet mis information on the internet. He gives the example of the ketogenic diet, which has been popular on social media. It can be life-threatening to certain individuals who have low blood sugar levels or diabetes.

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