Photo courtesy: @adidasrunning on Twitter.
Model: Dr. OBGYN @drnngujarathi on Twitter.
Today, I went to the park for the third day in a row at 7 am (sunrise), thanks to Luke Coutinho's inspiring tweet! I wrote a blog called Healthy Resolutions on it.
I stepped out of the gate, and a jogger crossed me. Next, second another crossed me! Wow! so many people jog these days. Most jog without masks...and rightly so!
At the park, I completed my exercises on the Garden Gym machines/toys. Started my walk. I saw so many people jogging and I remembered Dr OBGYN! Some Gujarati dialog came to my mind.
Bhai, tamhe.... Basically wanting to ask him something.
Well, here is his inspirational photograph. He has lost about 10 kgs and is trying to lose final 1 kg or 2 kg. Dr. Pallavi Aga
@aga_pallavi is providing him nutritional guidance.
Coming to the main point of this blog. Exercise ≠ Walking. Most of the doctors whom I follow on Twitter are super fit. One is doing
intermittent fasting and I regard him as a Kannada James Bond! Always wonder what kind of exercise routines these doctors follow in addition to walking.
Walking for 30-60 minutes at least is a must for all of us. We need 150 minutes of exercise (weight training/resistance training) per week.
Not sure whether Yoga can be regarded as a true weight training. Perhaps, yes. It is using body weight and it is technically a body weight
exercise. One Yoga teacher did boast that he grew his impressive muscles with Yoga! Yoga to me is 40 % body weight exercise, 20% stretching, 20% cardio (if you do it with speed and rhythm)
. Maybe, I should say it is 60% body weight exercise and 40% stretching.
Stretching is a very neglected part for most of us. When most of us do not even exercise...how can you expect us to stretch. Stretching can be done any time of the day. Ideally, you can do it throughout the day. Basically, it will keep your joints flexible and working.
What is a grill doing in an "exercise" blog? We have not opened this grill for maybe 30 years. I had to put an "awning (chajja/chabra)" outside this window and to reach outside the guys wanted to
open the grill. It would not budge. My handyman/carpenter told me -- tod dena padega saab. Naya lagana padega. Rs.13,000 lagega -- while I was on my 30 minute walk. I told him to stop the work.
When I came home, the grill was working smoothly...thanks to WD-40.
I got a message. If you don't use it, you lose it. If I had opened the grills regularly, the threat/possibility of losing Rs.13,000 would not have risen. If we stretch and keep our joints
flexible, we will not need knee surgery. I am sure each one of us has at least one friend who has undergone knee replacement!
Also, think about your weight. Can those poor joints bear 100 Kg of your weight? You carry 2-3 kgs of vegetables/groceries and you get tired. Your hands ache...and you keep shifting from one arm
to another. But your body should not complain of carrying 10-30 kg excess weight every day for 365 days in a year! It begins creaking and moaning though. Listen! Do something. Exercise, Walk,
Run, Stretch!
Hope the two pictures above will inspire you.
SWEAR -- Stretch, Walk, Exercise And Run -- you will start doing these, er, "exercises".
Hopefully such blog posts will inspire you to take up running, walking, stretching, do weight training/resistance training ("exercise"), and Yoga.