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Training tips for detoxing and weight control
These training tips are offered by Silvia Brodard, a sports expert and physical education teacher in Switzerland. She is a sports enthusiast and avid runner herself.
Count the number of hours a week you train, to discover your training tips.
- Performance Level 1: Beginner (0 - 0.5 hour of training a week)
- Performance Level 2: Fit (0.5 - 1.5 hours of training a week)
- Performance Level 3: Athletic (1.5 - 2.5 hours of training a week)
- Performance Level 4: Expert (2.5 - 5 hours of training a week)
- Performance Level 5: Marathoner (at least 5 hours a week)
- It’s important to be physically active at least 30 minutes each day in order to have a beneficial impact on your health. These 30 minutes can be broken up into 3 periods of 10 minutes each and can even include activities in your daily routine such as vacuuming, gardening, etc.
- Make your physical activities part of your daily routine. For example, use the stairs instead of the elevator, bike to work or get off the bus one stop earlier.
- Sports should be enjoyable: variety is the key. So try a new sport or take a new route the next time you go jogging. You can also vary the intensity of your workouts, etc.
- Three weekly sessions of 20 to 60 minutes of jogging, biking, swimming, etc., will increase your endurance. The important thing is to work up a sweat gradually and to start breathing a bit more rapidly while still being able to talk. For people who are already in good shape, trying new physical activities can have added health benefits.
- If you need to motivate yourself to do exercise, you may want to find a training partner. This will make it harder to skip your workout. And it’s always more enjoyable to train in pairs or in a group.
- Make sure you perform the movements properly. A technical training session (ideally with a specialist) once a week can help you avoid injury and overtaxing your muscles.
- Put your muscles to work: with 2 to 3 muscle-building sessions of 20 minutes each week, you can prepare your muscles for any type of weight optimally. Good muscle tone reduces the chances of injury. What’s more, muscles burn more calories than fat because they need more energy.
- Improve your performance: if you want to train more and improve your performance even more, start by increasing the frequency of your workouts, then the duration and, finally, the intensity.
- Choose the right intensity when working out. Your heart rate is the best indicator of this. The best method for accurately determining maximum heart rate is to conduct a stress test during which the blood lactate level is measured. The amount of lactate provides information about the intensity of the activity. These tests can be carried out in fitness centres or sports medicine clinics.
- Working up a sweat when exercising places higher demands on the body for fluids. For physical activity lasting more than 60 minutes, it’s recommended that you drink approximately 150 mL of water every 10 minutes. After one and a half hours of exertion, it’s a good idea to supplement your fluids with carbohydrates by adding an energy drink or diluted fruit juice, for example. If you prefer, you can also get these carbohydrates by eating solid foods such as a banana or energy bar.
- Avoid training at the same level of intensity all the time. A higher level of intensity during workouts for 3 or 4 weeks, followed by a lower-intensity workout for one week is an ideal way to improve your performance.
- Vary your activities. Even if you mainly practice one sport, you can still do other physical activities in between training. By soliciting other muscle groups, this will help correct muscular imbalances.
- Promote muscular flexibility: you can integrate simple stretching exercises at the beginning and end of your training sessions. Relaxed muscles help you feel better and avoid injury. During stretching, hold the position for 10 seconds at the beginning of your workout and for 20 to 30 seconds at the end.
- The higher the intensity of the performance, the fewer the benefits for your health: after 50 km of running or 5 hours of sports activity in a week, these benefits are nearly inexistent. Doing even more than that, while not harmful, requires a better organization of training time, competition and recovery periods, as well as close attention to what you eat. Otherwise, there is a greater risk of injury and overtaxing your body.
- To improve your performance, you have to know when to train and when to rest. Too many intensive workouts in a row can tire the body and lead to poorer performance. That’s why it’s recommended to give as much importance to recovery as to effort.
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