CLEVELAND — We could all do our best to live healthier, but what are some of the best ways to do it?
Jeff Tomaszewski, a certified exercise specialist at MaxStrength Fitness in Westlake and Willoughby, joined Betsy and Jay Thursday on "What's New" to share some tips on exercising better and keeping our bodies from aging rapidly. These tips included things like workout lengths, forming good habits, and even how to get "six-pack" abs.
Here's a little of what Tomaszewski had to say:
What's the most important thing for anti-aging?
- Diet
- Sleep
- Exercise
ANSWER: Exercise
Tomaszewski: "Studies have shown that if you deprive a rat of sleep for 21 days the rat will die, but if you deprive a rat of food for 21 days, the rat will be hungry but will not die. Sleep is more important that food but we don’t use it and respect it accordingly. Adequate rest supports focus and focus allows you to do more during your workday. Lack of sleep impairs judgment (especially under pressure), increases irritability, slows thinking and impedes memory. In a study published in Nutrition Research Reviews, scientists discovered that sleep deprivation can reduce leptin, the anti-starvation hormone (also known as an anorexigenic hormone) and increase ghrelin, a stomach hormone that increases hunger.
"That’s a double whammy. Lower leptin levels in turn affect thyroid and other body systems that decrease metabolism. Higher ghrelin levels increase your appetite, so you’ve got fewer calories being burned and a greater chance of more calories being eaten."
True or false: Doing more cardio means you'll lose more weight
ANSWER: False
Tomaszewski: "Despite what you may think, spending hours on the treadmill isn't the quickest way to shed those extra pounds. According to the Mayo Clinic, about 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat. So, to burn that pound of fat, you'll need to burn 3,500 calories. And, according to a 2018 article in Runner's World, the average person burns about 100 calories per mile of running. In other words, to burn one pound of fat, you'd have to run 35 miles, which is only a few miles shy of a marathon and a half!"
How many days does it take to form a new habit?
- 21
- 45
- 66
ANSWER: 66 days
Tomaszewski: "Phillippa Lally is a health psychology researcher at University College London. In a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, Lally and her research team decided to figure out just how long it actually takes to form a habit.
"The study examined the habits of 96 people over a 12-week period. Each person chose one new habit for the 12 weeks and reported each day on whether or not they did the behavior and how automatic the behavior felt. Some people chose simple habits like "drinking a bottle of water with lunch." Others chose more difficult tasks like "running for 15 minutes before dinner." At the end of the 12 weeks, the researchers analyzed the data to determine how long it took each person to go from starting a new behavior to automatically doing it.
"The answer? On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.
"In other words, if you want to set your expectations appropriately, the truth is that it will probably take you anywhere from two months to eight months to build a new behavior into your life — not 21 days."
At least how long should you work out in order to get results?
- 20 minutes
- 45 minutes
- 1 hour
ANSWER: 20 minutes
Tomaszewski: "According to a 2012 study in the Journal of Physiology, folks who exercised for only 20 minutes can show the same gains as folks who exercise for an hour—or better! On average, the study subjects who exercised for 20 minutes a day lost eight pounds in three months, while those who exercised for a whole hour only lost six pounds. "We can see that exercising for a whole hour instead of a half does not provide any additional loss in either body weight or fat," researcher Mads Rosenkilde, a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement."
What's the best way to get six-pack abs?
ANSWER: Diet
Tomaszewski: "Working out first thing in the morning is a great method for kickstarting your metabolism—and as a bonus, you needn't worry about slating in an inconvenient workout later in the day. As such, many people sweat by the practice. But, according to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Physiology, working out between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. is just as effective as working out early in the morning. It all depends on if you're naturally a morning person or not. I say the best time to work out is whenever you’ll actually do it!"