The DASH diet Exercises

The DASH diet involves a physical activity component. Physical activity is important in reducing weight and in lowering blood pressure. The benefits of exercise cannot be emphasized enough. Pick a program or a variety of programs that are best suited to your lifestyle and do at least 20 minutes of exercise 3 times a week. After a month, increase this to 30-45 minutes, up to 5 times a week. You will not only look better and have lower blood pressure, you will FEEL much better as well.

Walking

Walking has many health benefits and is a low impact aerobic exercise. Of all types of exercise, walking is the simplest, cheapest, and most basic form. Everyone knows how to walk and walking requires no special training or specific gear.

There are many benefits of walking, which include:
● Lowering cholesterol
● Lowering blood pressure
● Reducing weight
● Reducing risk of diabetes
● Limiting a depressed mood
● Increasing strength

Walking isn’t an exercise with much of a risk of injury, but when embarking on any new exercise program it is important to take it easy on the body. Don’t plan to walk five miles if you are just starting out. Be realistic. Start with a one mile or less for the first few tries, and then slowly increase your distance and speed as your body becomes stronger. The best thing about walking is that it is free. You can do it right outside your front door. It is great to listen to your favorite music, an audio book, or a motivational program while walking. The fresh air and visual impressions are great for the soul.

Other low impact aerobic exercise
When it is too cold to walk, there are other light aerobic exercise options that you can participate in. You might want to buy a tai chi exercise video or join a program at your local community center. There are other light aerobic exercise programs and activities such as cardio step exercise, stationary bicycling, or walking on a treadmill. These activities might have a cost involved and a small learning curve, but they are low impact and carry the same health benefits as walking. It is important to always wear proper foot wear when doing any exercise program and to stay properly hydrated.

Yoga

Yoga has a non aerobic exercise that has many health benefits, which include:
● Increased flexibility
● Increased strength
● Balanced mood
● Lower blood pressure
● Weight management
● Reduced stress
● Increased concentration
● Reduced insomnia
● Increased cardiovascular capacity It is important to learn yoga from a trained yoga instructor.

Yoga is a low impact exercise but it does have certain risks involved. If you do not understand the proper body positioning when trying to do a yoga pose, you could pull a muscle or otherwise injure yourself. Most gyms and community centers offer beginner yoga classes for a small fee in a friendly environment.

For yoga, you will need some equipment including:
● Yoga mat
● Yoga pants
● Supportive flexible top for women

Swimming

Swimming and water aerobatics are often called the perfect exercise. It is a low impact aerobic exercise that is done in a weightless environment. The health benefits of swimming are similar to walking but with the added benefit of being 0 impact on the body due to the weightlessness experienced in water. This makes swimming and water exercise perfect for older adults and people with injuries or arthritis.

The downside of swimming is that it does require one to know how to swim. Water aerobics requires a swimming pool. Many health clubs have indoor, heated pools and offer swimming classes and water aerobic classes.

The equipment required for swimming are:
● Swim suit
● Goggles
● Swim cap