Three Mistakes People Make When Exercising

How to avoid these pitfalls by practicing Asahi Health exercise

Three Mistakes People Make When Exercising

- Solutions through Asahi Nordic health exercise

Mistake No. 1: Never taking the time to exercise

Of course there is always something else you could be doing besides exercising. People are so busy these days! If you have children and a household, a demanding job, all these things can take up your time and attention. Maybe you had a more active profession when you were younger and hadn’t noticed that you spend more and more work time at the computer. Maybe you have taken up meditation, which adds another half hour of sitting to to your daily routine. Or, maybe physical exercise was never a part of your life growing up, so you don’t even miss it.

Studies have shown that the brain and the body need breaks from sitting. Standing up every 45 min., having some water, opening the window and doing a few movements to wake up your body brings freshly oxygenated blood to the brain. You win back the few minutes you took off, because the exercise break has cleared your brain fog and boosted your productivity rate. 

The American government’s recent Physical Activity Guidelines 2nd Ed. points out that American children and adults sit 7.7 hours/day, (more than half of their waking hours!) sitting. Almost 80% of the population gets insufficient exercise. This modern sedentary lifestyle poses a big threat: “The 2018 Advisory Committee found a strong relationship between time in sedentary behavior and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in adults.” The study also showed new evidence that even short exercise breaks bring results.

Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition

So, we can all see that there is good reason to get off our duffs and to start moving, but how? See below how Asahi can help!

Mistake No. 2: Exercising too much

This is the other end of the extreme and represents only a small minority of people, but I’m sure you all know someone, whose religion has become some form of fitness training. These folks spend hours a day sweating at the gym, monitoring all their body functions and eating more vitamin and protein supplements than real food. There’s nothing wrong with being excited about staying in shape, but there is a danger of overtraining, causing strain injury to the body, and causing unnecessary mental stress if, for instance, you miss a day of training or you didn’t meet your weekly quota.  It’s possible to get addicted to the endorphins produced in the brain during extreme exercise. This, like any addiction, starts to affect your life in counterproductive ways.

Asahi Nordic health exercise doesn’t have any golden rule or motto, but if it did, it might be, “Everything in moderation - even moderation!”

Mistake no. 3: Exercising lots one day and then not doing it again for a month

Of course, any exercise is better than none, but you lose a lot of the benefit when you exercise inconsistently, because repetition at regular intervals is the key to success here. Each time you exercise after a long break, you have to go through having stiff muscles the next day or two. Those muscles would love some gentle exercise and stretching the next day. Instead, after an occasional long practice, the joints and muscles may cramp up and be more prone to injury. Also, you may spend the month in between trainings feeling guilty about not getting back to it. This mental stress and negative feedback in the brain decreases productivity on all levels.

How Asahi can help

Asahi is a low threshold activity. You don’t need to have a gym card, gym clothes, or even a mat or other equipment to practice. The name “Asahi” is a Japanese word for “Morning Sun,” because first thing in the morning is a good time to practice, but it’s so easy and adaptable, you can come back to it at any time of the day. A relaxing session before bedtime can even help with insomnia. even just five minute sessions three times a day on a daily basis are more effective than one 60 minute training per week. Training with a group once or twice a week in addition to your personal practice gives you new insights from the teacher and some social contact. If your physical health is weak, Asahi can build your stamina, coordination, balance and muscle tone so that you are able to add other forms of physical exercise to your weekly routine.

Getting exercise, fresh air, good nutrition, proper rest, practicing mindfulness and having healthy social contacts are essential building blocks for good health.

Since the Finnish health exercise, Asahi, combines movement with breathing, it is a mindfulness practice as well as a physical activity. If you join an Asahi group that meets in a park you get the benefits of being out in nature and of making social contacts as well. Asahi is all gain and no pain!

Read the brochure about Asahi at www.asahiworld.com!

Find out more about all our online course offerings here!

A SIMPLE AND HEALTHY IDEA - Asahi!

Here’s to your health!

Margaret 

Categories: Asahi health exercise, Asahi method, exercise, physical transformation