Having a balanced diet is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle but, if you want to feel good and increase your health considerably, you must move.

Inactivity: a silent killer

Every day we learn about the benefits and properties of real/nutritious food and everything that comes with proper nutrition, but how long do you spend sitting on the couch at home? 😥

Physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle is the 4th risk factor with regard to global mortality (WHO., 2007) and is responsible for approximately 3.2 million deaths each year (!!).

In addition, it is estimated that it causes 25% of breast and colon cancers, 27% of diabetes cases, and approximately 30% of the burden of ischemic heart disease (WHO., 2007) 🏥.

Tips to be more active:

Having said that, we want to emphasize that a healthy eating pattern does not exclude you from any disease.

It is true that diet has an incredible multifactorial influence on health, but also keep in mind that human beings are not evolutionarily designed not to move → thus, move!

• Walk to the grocery.
• Practice any type of sport/physical activity.
• Park your car a little further from work.
• Choose the stairs (not the elevator).
• Get off the bus 1 stop before your destination.

Does any type of exercise work?

Not all exercises are the same. Thus; they don’t have the same effect in our body.

The most important thing would be to include strength exercises in our daily routine, since this type of training has shown multiple benefits (Westcott., 2012). See below.

Benefits of strength workouts

💪 Decreases visceral fat levels (the one in your abdominal area)

💪 Improves insulin sensitivity

💪 Lowers blood pressure

💪 Improves HDL / LDL ratio and triglycerides in blood

💪 Reduces risk of fractures and osteoporosis

💪 Increases strength levels and reduces the risk of sarcopenia and dynapenia (age-associated loss of muscle strength).

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I think you may have no excuses left…at least go for a walk! That’s better than nothing.