I’ve seen TONS of posts of people’s exercise routine and results. At first I loved it because I love seeing people be healthy, but the more I see it I thought this was worth mentioning. Many people tend to think more of a good thing is better and swing too far. This simply isn’t true. The key is finding balance.
What would happen if you took too much Vit C? You’d have diarrhea and not properly absorb necessary nutrients. However, there is a time and place to take higher doses for a period of time. What if you had too little? Increased susceptibility to infections, hair loss, muscle weakness, fatigue, depression. What happens if you had too much water? You’d drown. What about too little? You’d be dehydrated lacking a necessary medium to carry important stuff (vitamins, minerals, nutrients) to your cells... and you’d probably be constipated. The same is true for exercise. Too much is hard on the adrenals, leading to an increase in cortisol (stress hormone) which leads to the feeling of anxiety. It also is taxing on the immune system (the opposite of what we need right now). Here’s part of an email from Dr Ben Lynch (Click here to see his Facebook live on this topic where he shares a research article confirming this): “ You probably aren't surprised to hear that your risk of developing an upper respiratory tract infection is higher if you don’t exercise at all. You should be getting some exercise, but the key is how much and how hard you are going at it, which can make or break you. Moderate exercise (20-45 minutes of exercise at about a 60% intensity level) reduces risk of upper respiratory tract infection by about 50%—that’s HUGE! This is where you should be aiming.1 Now you may think that more is better. But when it comes to exercise, this is NOT the case. Intense exercise, like over-exercising or exercising when you are ill, starting to feel sick, stressed, or feeling run down should be avoided. In fact, it can lead to a 2 to 6 fold increase in upper respiratory infections!1 Moral of the story: too much exercise suppresses your immune system. Take care of yourself during this uncertain time...you can’t afford to suppress your immune system! It’s too early to know the full implications of COVID-19, but it doesn’t hurt to play it safe: be mindful of your exercise habits and don’t OVERtrain.” Contact me if you’d like to set up a phone consult or scheduled zoom meeting to go over your wellness regime and explore solutions. www.shekinahwellness.com rachael@shekinahwellness
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