By @coreflexpilates founder @chrisbardawil
Joint pain after exercise, headaches or brain fog after a bad night's sleep, and digestive distress after eating are all symptoms of systemic inflammation. While there are many articles and discussions about various foods and diets to reduce inflammation, little attention is paid to reducing inflammation through exercise.
Inflammation in itself isn't a bad thing. It is your body’s response to trauma and helps you heal by promoting blood flow and circulation.
Here are a few forms of exercise that when done regularly, can help reduce inflammation.
- Cycling: There is a reason why the exercise bike is a favourite for athletes after a long hard match. Research has shown that just 30 minutes of cycling leads to a reduction of inflammation in the body. All you need is a 5 minute warmup, 20 minutes of moderate intensity and a 5 minute cooldown.
- Walking: A 20 minute light jog or brisk walk is all you need to help flush out the muscles, stimulate your immune response and lower inflammation levels in the body.
- Resistance Training: Long term resistance training has also been shown to reduce inflammation in the body but the key is to make sure you have sufficient recovery time between sessions.
- Pilates: Gentle movements like Pilates help to increase lymph movement and move waste out of the body more efficiently which helps reduce inflammation and pain. Low impact exercise is the best way to get blood flowing and your immune system working.
It all boils down to having a good variety of low impact exercise that incorporates both resistance and cardiovascular training to help your body keep inflammation at bay.
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