Healthy weight: Exercise and balanced diet after the National Holidays

The fundamental thing is to have exercise as a habit and maintain a healthy diet on a regular basis.

Many people are in search of exercises that help maintain a healthy weight, especially after the celebration of National Holidays, an occasion in which they may have gained extra kilos in the celebrations.

The academic Ricardo Henríquez, director of the career of Kinesiology of the USS School of Dentistry and Rehabilitative Scienceswarns that exercise should be practiced regularly and accompanied by a healthy diet, but in no case is it recommended to carry out single intensive sessions of exercises in people who are not adapted to this type of activity, since they can produce muscular or cardiovascular damage.

Specifically, the specialist refers to the HIIT protocol, a high intensity interval training: “It has shown good results in changes in body composition, reducing fat accumulation and increasing muscle mass. It is about making exercise intervals of 2 to 3 minutes of high intensity, interspersed with low-intensity active breaks,” he explains.

In the same line, Arnaldo Burdilesmedical specialist in Sports Medicine and academic of the USS College of Medicine and Science points out that the ideal is that an exercise routine always considers aerobic activity, What run, dance or ride a bike, with exercises to maintain a good amount of muscle.

“The recommendation to maintain good weight control is to perform exercises of these two types and in particular, if we are looking for a weight control after 18, what we need is to do aerobic exercises preferably and trying to do them with a progressive intensity during each session and weeka. In addition, you have to keep movement throughout the daysays the sports doctor.

The academic also recommends carrying out a medical evaluation with a specialist to determine if any tests are necessary and specifies that “in the older than 35 years it is suggested to perform an electrocardiogram, like all those people who are going to perform high intensity exercises. And if the planning contemplates enter a gym to do intensive exercise routines, it is advisable to visit a doctor and have their approval together with the result of the electrocardiogram.”

time and frequency

Ricardo Henríquez points out that the World Health Organization recommended for adults minimum of 150 minutes per week of physical exercise at a moderate intensity and “in the case of changes in body composition in people who are overweight or obese, the studies recommend between 3 to 5 months of regular practice of physical exercise and dietary support”.

However, the kinesiologist emphasizes that there are no magic solutions, extreme diets or too intensive exercise protocols that give results. On the contrary: “they can cause injuries of all kinds and even aggravate underlying pathologies, such as hypertension or diabetes”, concludes.