As a personal trainer, I was shocked to hear that last year almost 67% of Australian adults were completely inactive. COMPLETELY INACTIVE. I’m sure that these people, more than 2 out of every 3 adults, would be shocked to hear how much physical activity we need for an increase in important health benefits.
According to the National Activity Guidelines Australia, adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week for improved health benefits (to reduce the risk of disease). Good news for you guys attending my bootcamps twice a week. I have you covered for about 100 minutes (bonus points for my social runners- you are covered). I would love to encourage my clients, who aren’t quite getting the 100 minutes, to get out on the weekend or another day through the week and get your heart rate up. Do something you enjoy. Grab a friend or family member and grab those extra 50 minutes so that you know you’re doing the best you can for your health and your quality of life in the future.
The higher the intensity of our physical activity the greater the health benefits are. So don’t be frightened to tackle that big hill. Grab some weights or bricks and mix in some cardio as it’s suggested we do 2 days per week of strength training and involve cardio in at least 3 days per week.
It was awesome over the weekend, when I was out on a 8km bike ride/ run with my family (6 of us plus the dog, it was a convoy), to see some of my boot-campers out exercising on the local trails. And again this morning when 2 of my campers said they held their own little bootcamp to make up for a missed session last week. Even while I was doing some personal training today I saw one of my campers doing voluntary shuttle runs with dumbbells above her head at the local oval. Now that’s commitment!!
All of you that train with me should be really proud to know you are doing the best you can, not only for your fitness, but for reducing your risk factors for disease, while being a great role model to all Australians. Hopefully it rubs off and we can reduce those figures of inactivity. (SCROLL DOWN FOR RECIPE BELOW)
Carrying on with the whole swap white for brown theme, here’s a great idea for the lunch box. I cooked this Sunday ready to slice up and throw in the lunchbox for Mondays lunch. It’s yum to have cold and is high in fibre and protein.
Healthy wholemeal zucchini slice
1cup of wholemeal SR flour (wholemeal rice flour for gluten free)
Half a cup of low fat tasty cheese
1onion diced
1 grated zucchini
1 grated carrot
1handful of sliced spinach
6 slices of chopped 97% fat free short cut bacon
Grated Parmesan to sprinkle on the top
6 eggs lightly beaten
1cup of low fat milk
Olive oil spray
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, except Parmesan. Line a slice baking tray with baking paper and spray with olive oil. Fill tray and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or when cooked in the middle. Eat straight away or have it cold for lunch. This recipe fed our family of six.