During the quarantine I designed 3 low-impact workouts for a client / friend (she has knee issues). We took pictures and I finally got around to putting them up on my site in 3 separate PDFs. They're a gift to you, and you can do them at home for no cost, or if we get stuck inside again they're a good option. If you have knee pain or arthritis, or just want to workout without bulking up, they'd be ideal. Click on the "Free E-Books" link. There are some other good free e-books on there, and my bookstore for published books.

or CLICK HERE 

Read next: Best of the Blog

And remember...there's never been a better day than TODAY to make it happen!
 
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​It can get very confusing when it comes to figuring out what to do when it comes to fitness, exercise, and training.  So here ya go.

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The 4 Types of Movement 
 
I was on a family trip recently and was talking with some family members about fidgeting.  You don’t think of fidgeting as having much benefit, but when it comes to weight control and health, it makes a surprising difference.  You only have so much time to formally exercise, and fidgeting, or moving around more on a daily basis, can add a lot of metabolic activity outside of more formal and planned movement.  Fidgeting would be a type of physical activity, albeit a very light one.    People who fidget more have higher metabolisms and are usually leaner.  
 
This brings me to a bigger topic.

When it comes to basic health, more movement of any kind is better than less.  Keep that in mind.  
 
We covered this before, in separate posts, but I want to reiterate something else really important.  
 
When it comes to human movement, there are basically 4 things you can possibly do:
 
The 4 Types of Movement
 
1)Physical Activity
2)Exercise
3)Training
4)Practice

 
Physical Activity- Any type of movement, such as fidgeting, strolling, cleaning the house, but also exercise, training, or sports.  There are countless ways to move.  

• The 3 More Below are Types of Physical Activity

 
Exercise- Purposeful physical activity, done to accrue health or fitness benefits, like walking 3 miles, jogging, lifting weights, doing a spin class, or jumping rope.  There are countless forms of exercise.   Most of the time when you go to the gym, you’re doing exercise.
 
Training- Training is more specific than exercise, and has a physiological, adaptive or performance goal in mind.  If you are attempting to Bench Press twice your body weight, run 2 miles in under 12 minutes, hike up a mountain, or do a plank for a full minute, then ideally you will train specifically for that goal.  Most of the time, training is done to improve strength, speed, flexibility, endurance, or power.  Whereas exercise is usually for health, training is done to achieve a specific goal.  Keep in mind though, training does have health benefits, but these are not the primary focus. 
 
Practice- Practice is engaging in specific motor skills to try to improve your ability and performance.  Great examples of practice are golf swings at the driving range, drills on a tennis court to work on backhands, or shooting sporting clays with a shotgun.  
 
Exercise, training, and practice are all forms of physical activity and all activity has health benefits, but that’s not why we train or practice.  
 
Key Tips

• People take functional training too far.  You can’t mimic tackling, golf swings, or tennis serves in the weight room.  When you train, try to get stronger, try to improve your flexibility, and your power.  When you practice, get in to your sport and practice and the transference from training will happen.  Trying to bring the sport into training isn’t smart, it’s a waste of time.  
• For sports keep things separate.  To be better at a sport, you have to both a) Train and b) Practice.  One major mistake many athletes make is to conflate the two, but they are different and both are very important.
• Exercise and physical activity are mainly done for health and for practical day to day activities, whereas training and practice have a specific goal.  
• To be healthier move more, to perform better train and practice.  

 
 Major Takeaways

1) Practice your sport, if you have one.

2) Move more for health.

3) Train for specific things like speed, power, and flexibility which will
a) improve your physical fitness but also .....
b) improve your sport performance.  
 
And remember...there's never been a better day than TODAY to make it happen!
 
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As we get older, our metabolism slows down.  This happens for a variety of reasons:

• Your body produces less testosterone and growth hormone. 
• Unless you stay active and lift weights, you lose muscle mass and become more insulin resistant, which promotes fat storage, which promotes higher insulin and the cycle repeats.
• We tend to become less active as we get older. 
• We tend to eat more as we get older, and crave sugar more.  

There are some simple things you can do to boost your metabolism:

1. Lift weights 3 times per week.  Try to do 3-4 sets of 6-8 weight training exercises 3 times per week.  This may seem like a lot, but you can make it interesting by working out with someone else, doing it outside, or by listening to audiobooks while you work out.  Building muscle boosts metabolism.
2. Walk or stand more. Try to take 10,000 steps per day.  ​Sitting all day can be destructive for your health.  
3. Do your workouts earlier in the day.  This will give you energy and help you to be more sensitive to insulin the rest of the day.
4. Don't starve yourself.  You need to eat. If you take too long between meals every single day, you could actually end up slowing down your metabolism, because eating burns calories. If you're going to fast, only do it 1-3 days per week.
5. Train Fast-Twitch Muscle fibers by doing power exercises and heavier weight training. Fast-twitch muscle fibers burn fat more effectively, which is one reason sprinters tend to be so muscular and lean.
6. Do H.I.I.T. exercise sessions.   Do interval training (High Intensity Interval Training) will tend to boost your metabolism.  30-90 second intervals mixed with 10-90 second recoveries.
7. Moderate Carbohydrate Intake and Fat Intake.  Either one can be a problem in excess.  You don't have to eliminate either but the insulin-spike of simple carbs and the high-calorie status of fat can both create problems.  
8. Mild caffeine use before exercise can help burn fat.  1-2 servings of tea or coffee can be beneficial before a workout to help utilize fat as an energy source. * Be careful with this if you have high blood pressure or heart disease.  
9. Don’t Become Catabolic. Always time your meals so that you eat after a workout: 200-600 calories, 20-40 grams of protein, 20-60 grams of carbs, 10-30 grams of fat.  The bottom line is that you need to eat after you train, or you’ll become catabolic, which means you’ll start to use your precious muscle mass for recovery.   You want to preserve and build muscle, not waste away!

Get in the habit of doing these things and they add up.  Your metabolism will go up significantly. 

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And remember...there's never been a better day than TODAY to make it happen!
 
Read Next: Becoming Anti-Fragile
 
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