The warm days are here. The best prerequisite for lacing up your sports shoes again. But what if moving is still difficult? This way you can really get started again and these sports are best suited for this.
A healthy lifestyle is central to our well-being and health. In addition to regular exercise, detoxification of the body is an important component and here we focus primarily on the active part.
Active detoxification is about supporting the body’s own detoxification processes: these are all processes in the body in which harmful substances are converted into less dangerous forms and excreted. This can have a positive effect on metabolism as the body is better able to absorb, process and utilize nutrients. Metabolism helps process nutrients from food and convert them into the energy the body needs.
“Muscles – the health makers: This is how we stay fit, slim and mentally balanced” by Ingo Froböse
Ingo Froböse is a professor at the German Sport University in Cologne. He is primarily concerned with the topics of rehabilitation in sports and the prevention of injuries and illnesses. He has been a guest lecturer at various German universities and has been advising the Bundestag as an expert on prevention and the Bundestag’s Sports Committee for twenty years. From his decades of research and experience, Ingo Froböse has developed the Froböse formula with the three crucial elements of exercise, nutrition and regeneration to pave the way for people to live a long, healthy and vital life.
Anyone who begins detoxifying the body should first reduce the toxin load. These include, in particular, alcohol, excessive caffeine consumption, nicotine, industrial sugar and saturated fatty acids. In addition, chemical household products can have a toxic effect on the body: Researchers at the Norwegian University of Bergen found in 2018 that people who often clean the house have weaker lungs than people who never clean. The following applies here: the fewer of these toxins are consumed (in)directly, the better and more cleansing for the body.
In addition to material poisons, there are often health ones: For example, stress is a common obstacle to physical health. It occurs in confronting, stressful or overwhelming situations and usually has a negative effect on the body. For example, too much stress can lead to headaches. In addition, it worsens the liver’s detoxification systems: When there is excessive stress, the liver can produce increased levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. This in turn can lead to an overload of the detoxification function – a vicious circle.
It should be known that the liver is one of the most important organs in our body for detoxification. It is all the more important that it can work optimally. It has many enzymes that help to render toxins harmless and changes these substances, for example by oxidizing or reducing them. This means that it converts the toxins into forms that are less dangerous to the body.
The good news: We can often influence our stress levels ourselves and thereby reduce them. This works with simple methods such as yoga, or meditation in general, and enough sleep. Because we know that even one night with too little sleep can cause cortisol levels to rise. In the digital age, it is particularly important to stop using your cell phone half an hour before going to sleep if you want to sleep better and healthier. Smartphones contain blue light, which inhibits the production of the hormone melatonin, which controls the sleep-wake cycle.
Diet should also play a role in detoxification. As already mentioned, saturated fatty acids (often found in fast food) or processed sugar (found primarily in sweets) are literally poison for the body. If you instead consume more vegetables, legumes, fruit or vitamin-rich products, you are on the safe side. Be careful with fruit: Smoothies that are sold ready-made in the supermarket are not part of a healthy diet because they contain too much sugar: the maximum amount of 25 grams of sugar per day recommended by the World Health Organization is often exceeded with just one smoothie. Many mixtures are also very high in calories.
Theoretically, there is no limit to how long the detox should last. However, toxins such as nicotine or alcohol are never a helpful support for the body and should be avoided even outside of active detoxification.
Most of the time, detoxification takes around a week. At least during this time, toxins should be reduced to an absolute minimum so that the body is “clean” again. During this phase, the toxic substances that have now been broken down are transported to the excretory organs via the blood or bile and are then usually excreted via urine.
Once the body has been detoxified, the conditions for (re)entering sport are created. If you are also sufficiently regenerated and hydrated, it means: beginners beware, from now on there are no more excuses!
So where to start? There are hundreds of sports, but running in particular is ideal for less experienced athletes: the fact that running is so easy to get started – no special equipment is required – makes it one of the most accessible sports that anyone can practice practically anywhere. Beginners or newcomers can also adapt their pace to their endurance and gradually increase the training intensity.
Jogging for just ten minutes a week significantly improves your mood, according to a study by Northern Arizona University. In addition, according to a study by the University of Ulm, running stimulates brain activity and improves concentration and memory. Running also releases feel-good hormones that improve mood and promote relaxation. In addition, many runners report the so-called “runners high”; a feeling of euphoria and well-being, which usually occurs while running.
If you are not experienced, you should note that beginners in particular can overwhelm themselves when jogging and go too fast. A good rule of thumb is to be able to carry on a conversation while jogging. True to the motto: “Run without panting”. A smartwatch that monitors your own pulse rate can also be helpful. The rule of thumb 180 minus age is ideal here.
If running is too monotonous for you, you can go to the nearest swimming pool and just try breaststroke! Swimming is a sport that requires the entire body and is good for training endurance and the cardiovascular system. The buoyancy of water reduces stress on joints, making swimming a low-risk sport. Beginners, people with joint problems or who are overweight especially benefit from this.
The same applies here: Newcomers or returnees can go at their own pace so as not to be too overwhelmed at the beginning. To monitor performance, you can also use your heart rate while swimming. This should be about 10-15 strokes lower than when jogging. It should also be noted that the correct technique should be mastered. Breaststroke is a good option here, as this technique requires less coordination than, for example, the front crawl. If the technique is incorrect, swimming training would otherwise have a cramping effect.
Another sport is Nordic walking: This is a special form of walking that uses walking sticks as support. When Nordic walking, both arms and legs are moved, resulting in a coordinated movement pattern. Similar to swimming, beginners or those returning to swimming benefit from a sport that is gentle on the joints, improves endurance and coordination and allows everyone to go at their own pace. Nordic walking also trains the entire body: up to 90 percent of the muscles are used here.
In general, beginners should remember to only walk at the beginning and only move on to the sticks as their endurance increases. The reason for this is as follows: an untrained body must first learn how to tap into its fat reserves. As fitness increases, the body lays thicker supply pipes from the fat cells to the muscle cells. The consequences: During exercise, the body increasingly relies on fat reserves as energy sources.
If you have joint problems, you should take it easy at the beginning so that your joints and muscles can adapt to the strain. However, the same applies here: any movement is better than none. Because without regular strain, the muscles atrophy, the joints have to take on and absorb more movement work, which causes them to wear out much more. Training, on the other hand, builds up the muscles – perfect protection!
Anyone who actively supports their own body in detoxifying prevents negative side effects and, in contrast, receives positive ones. These are precisely the ideal prerequisites for starting sports again or again. It doesn’t have to go straight from zero to one hundred: regular training is more important – the increase in performance then comes all by itself. So let’s go, tie your sports shoes and get into your first training session!
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