This is a question we are asked on a regular basis at the clinic and the answer is “it depends”. Depends on what you're wondering? It depends on: your age, your fitness level, your health history, your personal goals, etc, etc. Of those factors, your personal goals is the most important factor to consider. Any exercise program should be specific to your particular goals and therefore there are no one size fits all exercise programs.
We do have some thoughts about what types of exercises are available in Cedar Falls and Waterloo.
"What if I'm over xx years old?"
Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or new into the workforce, your goals and beliefs around exercise are probably different than when you were younger. The time you devote to exercise is maybe less than when you were younger, but you recognize how much more important is is now to make time compared to when you were younger.
If this sounds like you, then you want to get the best return on investment for your time and effort. To accomplish this, there are some basic guidelines to follow for your exercise plan. These may work for you or they may not, depending on your specific circumstances.
Have both resistance and HIIT training in your program.
HIIT training stands for High-Intensity Interval Training and over the past several years it has become the go-to recommendation for exercise for those over 40 and for those who are interested in modifying or maintaining a leaner body composition.
There are several ways to structure a HIIT style of workout but the thing they all have in common are short burst periods of difficult to very difficult activity followed by a period of rest or recovery.
One Common formula is called a Tabata workout. The Tabata formula is 20 seconds of intense (nearly all out) exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. A common workout plan is to do this for 8 rounds, which adds up to a total of a 4 min program. The great thing about these workouts is you can incorporate whatever movement you choose for those 20 second intervals. This allows you to make an easy to understand workout for whatever fitness level you're at.
Where can I go locally to exercise?
If you prefer group workout classes, there's a huge variety of options available to you in the Cedar Valley! Here are a few of the most common places our patients are working out at:
Group (Coach led) workouts
-The Gym, Crossfit Kilo (Dr. Dugger highly recommends)
-Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping
-Orangetheory Fitness
-Balance Hot Yoga
-Next Level Extreme Fitness
Prefer designing and doing your own workouts? These gyms allow 24/7 access and have all the machines and weights you'll need.
-UpFit Gym in Waterloo
-Planet Fitness in Cedar Falls
-FIT University and FIT Courts in Cedar Falls
Prefer to Stay Home:
Sometimes this is the only option; life is busy and it can be hard to schedule a workout. So what to do? Put the kids to bed and watch an exercise video? Yes, exactly this. While in his doctorate program, Dr. Dugger utilized Beachbody OnDemand workouts and was able to choose from hundreds of different programs to find one that fit what he was looking for.
If you just need somewhere to start and looking for advice, our doctors are knowledgeable in the many types of exercise that would benefit you the most. Schedule an appointment the best chiropractors in Cedar Falls to get started on a healthy exercise regimen today!