Paul’s Top Ten Rules on Exercising

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1. AVOID ANY LYING DOWN OR SITTING DOWN EXERCISES

  • These are the two laziest positions the human body can be in.
  • The average North American is only in an upright position for one hour per day.
  • You burn fewer calories than upright exercises because fewer muscles are involved.

2. AVOID USING WEIGHT TRAINING MACHINES

  • They isolate muscle in lazy positions. This is only good for bodybuilders.
  • There is too much support and no core involvement.
  • It restricts proper human movement.
  • It doesn’t apply to real-life training.

3. GET A KINETIC CHAIN ASSESSMENT DONE

  • This is a test of how your joints are working in relation to one another.
  • If muscular imbalances exist, corrective exercise should be learned.
  • Very important before starting any exercise program. All the joints should have proper movement and range of motion before you load them with large loads or impact.

4. LEARN FUNCTIONAL CORE EXERCISES

  • Do movements that engage your core in an upright position.
  • Select exercises that mimic the intensity and daily activities you do. What is the hardest part in your day? Train for that.
  • The body works as one unit from head to toe. Do full body integrated exercise.

5. DO INTERVAL TRAINING

  • High intensity intervals will increase your maximum aerobic capacity. This will make you fitter, allowing you to do more intense exercise.
  • Intervals increase EPOC (burning calories after you stop exercising).
  • Intervals can range from 15 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on intensity.
  • Active rest should be about 40 to 50 % the intensity of the interval.
  • Time of rest can range from 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 depending on fitness level and intensity.

6. PLAY A SPORT (NOT GOLF, CURLING OR BOWLING)

  • Sports allow you to move in multi directions with acceleration and deceleration of all the joints.
  • Hand eye coordination is enhanced.
  • Sports are fun! You’ll spend more time being active and less time being bored.

7. DO BALANCE EXERCISES

  • Righting and Equilibrium responses are improved.
  • Someone pushing you or floor moving beneath you.
  • Improves your righting response of your center of gravity.
  • Decreases your chance of injury by 80% if balance improves by 50%.

8. LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS AT LEAST TWO TIMES PER WEEK

  • Use a weight that causes failure in lifting it around the 15th rep.
  • It is important to strengthen and increase lean muscle tissue.
  • Muscle is hard to get and atrophies every year after age 25.
  • Strong muscle enhances independence in senior years.
  • Muscle increases metabolism, makes you a better calorie burner.

9. CONSISTENCY IS HUGE

  • It is important to progressively stress the body to improve your fitness. Training must be regular to make changes.
  • Long layoffs between exercise sessions are like starting over again.
  • The amount of rest you take depends on the intensity of the exercise. If you trained hard and long, rest breaks can be longer.
  • Generally, you want to train daily, varying the intensity and types of activities you do for overall fitness.

10. CROSS-TRAINING IS BEST FOR THE GOAL OF GENERAL FITNESS

  • You can avoid repetitive stress disorders.
  • You can avoid muscular imbalances.
  • You can maintain a level of interest in fitness.
  • You can train more often with less risk of injury.
  • You spread the workload over many joints and muscles.