“By doing this, we are actually strengthening the muscles, but also, we’re strengthening the heart. Because of the intensity that we lift at, we are incorporating the heart to pump hard to push blood into the muscles.
“And if we do this high-intensity work throughout our exercise, we actually keep the heart rate up and we can get exactly the same benefits as if going for a run.”
She said solely doing cardio, such as running or using a treadmill or elliptical bike at the gym, will help you burn calories in the short term, but you will put the weight back on faster.
Seiler did that very thing when she was younger and enjoyed the endorphin hit, but resistance training - essentially picking up and lowering weights - is the way to go.
“What we know from the research is that resistance training puts on muscle.
“I’m not saying you’re going to be looking like a bodybuilder by putting on muscle, but by putting on muscle, which is a metabolically active tissue, we’re actually going to be burning calories after strength training.
“So the more muscle that we have, the more calories we are going to be burning at rest, meaning the higher metabolism we have at rest.”
She said if you’re at the gym, this involves heavy weights, such as dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands, to stimulate the muscles.
However, if you are just looking to pick up exercise at home, Seiler said you can improvise with material from home - or simply finding exercises that don’t need anything else.
“I’m pretty sure a lot of people have backpacks at home and books or milk bottles that you can just pop in there and you can use that as resistance.
“A very simple routine that can be done from home is picking about three exercises for the lower body.
“So whether that’s a squat, a glute bridge, or it can be something like calf raises or wall sit.
“And then the same for the upper body pushups, it could be something like a bicep curl with the backpack row, because all of those movements actually cover not just one or two muscles, but all of the other musculature trying to support the body while doing those exercises.”
And if you are keen on getting a six-pack, Seiler said you don’t need to be doing “thousands and thousands of crunches”.
“A lot of people think that they need to be doing exercise A, B, and C to get that six pack or to shed the love handles, but the abs only really need about two sets of really intense or just hard exercise for them to actually get stronger.
“If you wanna see your abs, it’s gonna be having a look at what’s in the fridge.”
What’s key though is finding an environment where you feel safe and comfortable exercising. Seiler said that if you don’t like going to the gym, there’s no point going as you aren’t going to feel motivated or relaxed enough to properly exercise.
“Finding an environment where you feel safe, you don’t feel judged and you feel supportive is very critical when it comes to finding an exercise regime and doing it.”
Listen to the full episode of The Little Things for more from Kyra Seiler on how to pick up exercise if you’ve been out of it for some time, how to start resistance training, and how to motivate yourself to exercise.
The Little Things is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The series is hosted by broadcaster Francesca Rudkin and health researcher Louise Ayrey. New episodes are available every Saturday.
