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"Gym’ll fix it? No, just reach for the stairs" (Page 2)
Weight loss is what most of us really want from our fitness regimes. And this is where the benefits of integrative exercise become slightly less precise. “If you are starting at zero [you are currently inactive] and are not eating more than usual, I would be amazed if you didn’t lose some weight,” says Dr Till. However, “everybody has different starting points and every metabolism is different. If you are 18 stone and walk for 30 minutes you will burn more calories than an 11-stone person would.” In other words, you have to try it and see.
What is more, integrative exercise is not quite as commitment-free as it sounds. When you go out to get your newspaper, for instance, you have to walk at three or four miles per hour (depending on how fit you are). This involves moving your legs and arms pretty fast, which is something you have to think about, and several times a day. It is a mental as well as a physical effort.
The key to success with integrative exercise is changing your outlook: you have to become the sort of person who takes the stairs, runs for the bus or walks over to a colleague’s desk instead of emailing him. However, it is not easy to change how you think about exercise, says exercise psychologist Andy Barton, a sports motivation specialist. “If you tell yourself at the outset that you will lose two stone this way, you are likely to lose motivation.” Instead, Barton advises: “Break your overall goal down into achievable mini-goals. This way you won’t give up on the whole idea of integrative exercise the first day you fail to do it.”
Your colleagues may initially seem alarmed as you sprint from desk to coffee machine. But press on and this “active lifestyle” approach will, says Dr Till, be “genuinely valuable” to your physical health. And it might just help your bank balance, too.
Lucy Atkins
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