12 Indoor Exercises to Avoid the Cold 🥶
Movement is essential to health! If you don’t want to brave the cold and don’t have a gym membership, here are some things that anybody can do in their own living room:
🔹 Jump Rope
🔹 Push-Ups
🔹 Jumping Jacks
🔹 Squats
🔹 Run in Place
🔹 Free Weights
🔹 Skip
🔹 Dance
🔹 Stretch
🔹 Shake
🔹 Yoga
🔹 Push-Ups
Health is not hard. You just have to commit.
You've got this! 🙌
Should I exercise when I’m stressed?
There are a lot of mixed messages out there, so let’s look at some facts.
Intense exercise causes a temporary increase in stress hormones BUT:
✅ The cortisol spike during intense exercise reduces the cortisol response to subsequent stressors in life AND
✅ Exercise releases endorphins, which naturally combat stress AND
✅ Regular exercise over time supports a healthy cortisol rhythm.
Some exercises, like yoga and tai chi, combat stress by putting the nervous system into a more parasympathetic state.
So, for most people, exercise helps to combat stress.
Exercise only becomes a problem when it’s extreme and intense—particularly in people who are already stressed by other things in life.
It’s all about looking at the big picture!
👇Have you heard?
🤸♂️ Exercise can change your gut microbiome 🚴
A new study of middle-aged adults in Canada (just regular people—not athletes) found that exercising 150+ minutes per week had a positive effect on the gut microbiome.
Most people focus on foods to support a healthy gut. This study shows that exercise works too 🙌
What’s even more exciting is that a healthier gut microbiome could translate into better:
✔️ Skin
✔️ Mood
✔️ Digestion
✔️ Metabolism
✔️ Brain Health
✔️ Immune Function
✔️ And Overall Health
This study showed that the gut microbiome responded more to a longer duration of exercise, whereas the exercise intensity didn’t matter.
Like this post ❤️if it motivated you!
Shah S, Mu C, Moossavi S, et al. Physical activity-induced alterations of the gut microbiota are BMI dependent. FASEB J. 2023;37(4):e22882. [link]
👣 If you only have one health goal, make it this 👣
Sitting for long periods of time is dangerous for your health, yet we all do it 😫But here’s a fun tip based on a solid research study:
⏰ Strolling around for 5 minutes every half hour can offset some of the most harmful effects of prolonged sitting.
The study was done at Columbia University and looked at 5 possible scenarios:
🔸 1 minute of walking every 30 minutes
🔸 1 minute every 60 minutes
🔸 5 minutes every 30
🔸 5 minutes every 60
🔸 No walking at all
The optimal results came out of walking for 5 minutes after every 30 minutes of sitting. That amount:
⬇️ Reduced blood pressure by 4-5 mm Hg compared to sitting all day
⬇️ Reduced blood sugar spikes after meals by 58% compared to sitting all day
Don’t you LOVE when tiny efforts can add up to such a big impact?
So here’s your challenge: set a timer for 30 minutes every time you sit down at your desk. Then take a 5-minute stroll.
I bet it will be good for you brain and productivity too 🧠
Duran A, Friel C, Serafini M, et al. Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Cross-Over Trial. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2023. [link]