5 Good Habits to Adopt to Improve Your Physical Condition

Federation des kinesiologues du Quebec May 17, 2020 Health, sports

Unfortunately for us, bad habits are easy to begin and are sometimes difficult to stop. Here are 5 easy-to-incorporate daily habits that can positively impact your health.

1. Eliminate blue light before bedtime

Although people find that watching TV before going to bed helps them to relax after a day’s work, this activity actually impedes sleep rather than helping it. In effect, the stimulating content can keep you awake later than expected. In addition, the blue light emitted by your TV or portable device disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm and production of melatonin (the sleep hormone).

2. Get a good night’s sleep

An adult should sleep between 7-9 hours per night. Poor quality sleep can cause far more problems than just the next day’s fatigue. This habit leads to emotional disruption and causes a lack of concentration that results in inefficiency during one’s daily tasks.

Some studies have also found an increase in the mortality rate among people who sleep less than the recommended number of hours. Because a lack of sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, it is common that those who sleep poorly find themselves with health complications. In addition, not getting enough sleep leads to sedentary behaviours, poor diet, impaired cognitive function and therefore a lesser quality of life.

3. Warm up before training

Any good kinesiologist will tell you, doing a warm-up before a workout is essential. Taking a few minutes to warm up will allow you to raise your body temperature and increase your heart rate. In addition to quietly awakening muscles and joints, warming up increases your heart rate, which makes it easier to carry oxygen throughout your body. There are also benefits for the nervous system, as the heat created increases the speed of information transmission. Taking a few minutes to warm up will help prepare your body for physical exertion!

4. Stretch after exercise

Stretching after exercise reduces stress, as stretching relaxes the muscles and when muscles are tense the brain receives a stress message. Obviously, stretching allows the body to return to its initial calm state while also helping the muscles and joints recover after training. Taking the time to stretch improves one’s posture and elicits a better range of motion which promotes blood circulation and thus allows a quicker elimination of waste in the body’s tissues.

5. Do 150 minutes of physical activity per week

150 minutes of physical activity per week is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Failure to reach this goal can lead to many health problems. Inactivity is associated with several chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Several studies show a relationship between mortality and the time spent sitting. WHO declared a sedentary lifestyle as the leading cause of death that is easily preventable. The team of kinesiologists at Laval University investigated the issue and drew up a list with some recommendations to reduce the time spent sitting during one’s day:

• Get up regularly to fetch water
• Make standing phone calls
• Hold active meetings
• Stay standing on public transport
• Go to a co-worker’s office in person instead of emailing them

Author

Federation des kinesiologues du Quebec

Kinesiology is defined as the use of muscle testing to identify imbalances in the body's structural energy. Kinesiologists undertake years of training to be able to help their clients maintain and regain physical fitness. Headed by the FKQ, kinesiologists write about rehabilitation, prevention and performance.