By Joli Guenther, MSSW, NASM
If you've been sticking
to your elliptical and treadmill workouts this winter, recent research has some
good news for you. Check
out this link for an article on some of the benefits of winter
workouts. Keeping active during the
winter can stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder (i.e. the winter blues) during
the shortest days of the year, which results in you and your body being in a
healthier place this spring. This
article shares even more good news…
"Getting
active this time of year can help in unexpected ways. It shifts your body to
instinctively make wiser food choices while also raising your mood and energy
level,” says Jonathan Erhman of the Clinical Weight Management program at Henry
Ford Health System's Center for Athletic Medicine in Detroit.
"There's
evidence that people who become routine exercisers change their diet just
naturally. They tend to eat healthier, and it's not always a conscious
decision. It seems to come from just being active.”
For more on the
benefits of combining exercise and diet, check out this link. A controlled study of people who lost weight
through diet alone and those who lost weight through diet and exercise demonstrated
the beneficial effects of exercising while losing weight. Those who exercised while dieting improved
their overall fitness and the functioning of their internal organs, even though
both groups dropped weight. In
this study, exercise "was the deciding factor in whether an individual improved
his or her blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular
fitness."
Weigh in: Did you keep up
your workouts this winter using your treadmill, elliptical, or recumbent
bike? If so, how are you feeling with
spring around the corner?