So exercise is, like, legitimately the bane of my existence.
Exercise in general? Yeah! Just generally exercise.
What do you mean by exercise, Moataz?
You know, putting on an outfit, going into a facility that is designed to cause maximum pain right,
and then waking up sore the next day and then doing it again in a cycle that never ends!
We talk about running and then a lot of us, we run in a building, which seems weird
Yeah.
I guess is there any advantage to running outside as opposed to running on a treadmill?
Any exercise is better than no exercise
so if you're going to go for a run on a treadmill because you're already at the gym
or it's in your office and you can use it during the day,
then that's better than not doing anything
But there is some interesting evidence that suggests that
running on a treadmill doesn't give the same mental health benefits in particular
as running outside.
Oh, wow.
And may not give you the same kind of happy hormone boost that you get when you're running outside.
And that kind of makes sense, because at the end of the day
you're not just running to improve your heart health and get the blood moving around your body
and improve your fitness.
It also has, you know, you're outside, you're seeing things,
you're smelling things, you're getting fresh air, you're clearing your mind
you're maybe listening to something interesting or your favourite music.
All those things will have an effect.
Wow. That is some new information.
Isn't that interesting?
Yeah, that is really interesting. I didn't know that. I guess it's park runs from now on.
I, like many, have a desire to maybe put on a little bit more size, right.
I don't think my mentality to exercise is one for like - 'I want to be more healthy'. No, it's purely vain. It's vanity.
OK.
So what is the safest way to bulk up?
If you're looking to bulk up I would recommend speaking to a professional - a trained, like, personal trainer.
Someone with a certification of some sort, in a gym and getting a bit of a program.
A physiotherapist would also be a great way of getting some advice on how to bulk up safely.
But, you know, start low, go slow and just be mindful that it's something that will need to happen over time.
Going from zero to hero, not only are you going to hit a wall and think, my god, this is way tougher than I thought
wake up with a lot of pain and probably never do it again
but also you could actually hurt yourself in the process.
What's the difference between cardio exercise and then resistance exercise?
So cardio is about getting the heart rate up, getting moving, you're a bit out of breath.
It's going to improve your heart health, your brain health and reduce your chance of chronic disease.
We want to get it between 30 and 60 mins a day, aiming to get on the higher end for most of us, particularly for young people and adults.
The other type of exercise which is more about building strength is focused on building the strength of our muscles and our bones.
And it's about pushing against things, it's about having weight on our body and that's because when we do that
our body responds by kind of reinforcing itself by
placing down more bone mass, which protects us from breaks and falls later in our life.
We should be doing strength training more around twice a week.
And if you're getting a mixture of both on most days, but the focus on cardio
then you're going to be doing the best for your body.
Finally, what should my exercise homework be for the week?
It sounds as though you don't love the exercise you're doing at the moment.
I hate it.
So I want you to set yourself a goal of keeping moving for an hour each day.
So I want you to try and get to work in a more active way.
I want you to take no lifts or escalators for the week. I want you to get home in an active way.
But let's also find some stuff that you enjoy, if you don't love the gym, what else could you do?
Could it be a walk in the evenings, or a run in the evenings with your girlfriend?
Could you go somewhere and then walk back?
Finding the thing that I can keep on doing... that's going to be a tricky one.
Yeah.
But I'm looking forward to the challenge — I'm not, I'm lying.
(Laughs)