W8less Week 2: Activity Before Exercise

In the second week of the W8less 40-Day Challenge, the focus has now switched to getting moving. Why? Because the majority of us just do not do enough of it! Kate Troup, founder of W8less, has answered the questions as to why this ‘brick’ is so important.

Why does the second week focus on activity over exercise?

Three-quarters of Australians don’t do the recommended amount of exercise as it is, despite everyone knowing that they should do more. Even those people who do exercise regularly are often guilty of being “active couch potatoes” which means that they are largely sedentary apart from the few hours that they hit the gym or Pilates studio. Sitting down all day or being a “professional sitter” as we call them, carries significant health risks, which are independent of how much structured exercise someone does. This means that you can’t undo the damage done from a day sitting in front of your computer by running home, for example.

What do you mean by activity?

Activity includes pretty much anything which means you’re not sitting down so even standing is fantastic. Walking, taking the stairs, doing some yoga, stretching, skipping, jumping up and down, whatever gets you up and out of your chair. You should aim to be active for a few minutes every 30 minutes.

When should we start to introduce more vigorous exercise?

You’ll know when it’s time to up your exercise because you will feel as if you have to! Forcing your body to exercise before you have got your foundation in place will often just lead to fatigue, hunger or injury. Your body turns food into energy and once your metabolism is working efficiently, this energy will no longer get stored on your body as fat, so you will literally have “energy to burn”.  When someone tells me that they want to exercise, instead of having to force themselves, I know that we’re on the right track.