Keep fit and healthy after quitting smoking
Our expert Lucy Wyndham-Read discusses the importance of being active, and suggests some simple exercises we can do anywhere to help us get into better shape as the holiday season approaches.
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Transcript
Presenter - Ok well we're going to be talking very very shortly about some routines you can do in the office, but in a way this question leads into it from Tony – he says "I quit smoking 40 cigarettes a day on January 1st. I've put on nearly 2 stone which I believe brought on backache. I'm male, aged 50, 6 ft 6 tall" – so not a small guy – "in good nick and I need a good diet and exercise routine. Gyms bore me a bit." So what can he do?
Lucy - Ok, well firstly fantastic for giving up smoking, and he's obviously a very determined man to have done that, so that's brilliant, and I would say he's obviously saving money on not smoking, so why not invest in a bike which would be really good to help sort of – because then he can support his back which running may give him a few back problems if he's suffering a bit, so I would perhaps say invest in a mountain bike or just a normal sort of road bike and try and do that. Again work on doing sort of 3 times a week and then at the weekend go for a slightly sort of longer bike ride. If he's not into cycling then try perhaps doing the power walking. Start of gently. I'd avoid doing any high impact which is like doing the running or doing sort of fitness classes, circuit classes if he's got a bit of a back problem, but I would think as he loses the weight that will reduce any stress on his back, so I would say with the money he's saved with the cigarettes, buy some piece of cardiovascular equipment, and by that he could actually also get like a rower at home or one of the cross trainers and just do something and he'll find that he can quite easily lose that 2 stone that he's put on once he's started exercising, and the more exercise you do the higher your metabolism is, so it's – you know it will then mean he'll be burning off more calories so invest money he's saved with the cigarettes with some piece of equipment that he enjoys exercising on that he can do at home
Presenter - For the uninitiated, a cardio-vascular exercise is something that works the lungs and makes you –
Lucy - Basically that's the bit that makes you bright red in the face and makes you feel out of breath, that's swimming, that's running, that's rowing, cycling, that's doing an aerobics class, so that's cardiovascular exercise, and then we have what we call resistance exercise, and that's where we're lifting weights, so they're the two differences
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