The ONE Exercise you should be doing DAILY! PQTD podcast

I know that the number one reason given for not exercising is TIME.  This is understandable, since our modern lives have become busy to a fault- it would be much better if we would winnow through the many things we do, like watching television and reading facebook, and make more time to exercise.  It would make us healthier in body and mind!

But, for those of you with young children especially, and also those of you with jobs taking up long hours, I know that time is of the essence, and so I have a strong recommendation for you:  

Do a full body isometric contraction 3 times in succession, several times per day!

That’s it.  Just stand relaxed, hands at your sides.  Then slowly contract every muscle in your body, starting with the calves, and gradually tensing each muscle group in your body, from thighs to butt, to abs to chest to back to shoulders- all just by isometrically tensing each group.  Keep breathing throughout, don’t hold your breath, but tense hard and hold for about 7 seconds.  Relax briefly, and then repeat two more times.  

Everyone has time for this exercise!  You can do it while pumping gas at the station, or in front of the tv.  You can do it in front of the bathroom mirror, which helps you to observe the tensing, and gain you better muscle control.  You can do it while frying eggs in the morning, or standing on the deck in the early morning, or in the evening as well.  

It takes a couple of minutes each time, and so that is about 6 minutes per day- and those minutes are spread out conveniently through the day.  And you will be surprised at the great effect it has not only on your physique, but on your circulation and blood pressure.

This was popularized in the 1980’s by a man named Dr. Kiveloff, but it has been used and written about since the 1960’s as a means to lower blood pressure.    It also has been used to help with controlling blood sugar in diabetics, and in improving the circulation of such patients as well.  Why not use it yourself, as a healthy person, and thereby prevent such problems from happening?  And, if you do have high blood pressure: this technique has been shown to lower blood pressure at least as well as prescription drugs.

So do it, daily!  You get more bang for your effort from isometrics than any other form of exercise: more raw strength, more tendon and ligament toughening, and almost no chance of injury.  It is a no-brainer, whether you are an experienced athlete of any type, or confined to a bed.  (You can even to it lying down!!

But I see it as a ‘gateway exercise drug’.  Once you see and feel what this simple addition of exercise does for you- you will be inspired to add in more.  Success breeds more success, and as you become healthier, you will want to add in more exercise- pushups, sit ups, heavy-hand of ski pole walking through the woods, stretching on the floor, virtual resistance or ‘tiger moves’-which are kind of “moving isometrics”.  I like to do that latter on a rebounder!

You get the idea: take a step in a healthy direction, and you will want to take more and more.  But for now, just do the isometric full body contraction!  Even if that is all you ever do, you will be a far healthier and happier person because of it.