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Take Your Life Back and Stop Hypothyroidism Naturally at the Source |
Hypothyroidism
Exercise
Exercising
with hypothyroidism has been quite a misunderstood topic. Many people claim
that exercise has huge benefits for people suffering from hypothyroidism. And
some others tend to disagree.
The
truth is that exercise CAN have some amazing benefits BUT not all exercise is
created equal. In fact, most forms of exercise will further damage your
thyroid.
But
there are some very beneficial forms of hypothyroid exercise that have proven
that they can be a very effective component of your hypothyroidism treatment
plan.
And
don’t forget to make your exercise even more effective by following the right
hypothyroidism diet for even better and faster results.
The
Wrong Kind of Hypothyroidism Exercise
I
want to make sure that I make myself clear… Most forms of exercise are not
beneficial and will only make you more hypothyroid.
This
is because most forms of exercise cause excessive stress to your body.
Think
about how exercise is supposed to work for a minute…
Almost
all exercise is catabolic by nature, meaning that the stress of it causes your
body to break down its own tissue. And it’s not until after this exercise that
your body’s natural repair processes start up and your body recovers from the
stress with the goal of rebuilding itself stronger than before.
But
you have to realize that when you are hypothyroid, your body cannot properly
recover from stressful exercise. So while you are hitting the gym thinking that
you’re doing some great hypothyroidism exercise, you are continuously breaking
down your body even more while your body fails to rebuild itself.
Eventually,
your body breaks down to the point that if you’re lucky, you just run out of
gas and you just can’t muster enough energy to make it to the gym. But more
often than not, you end up with some sort of injury that sidelines your gym
efforts.
And
this is actually quite common due to the calcification of soft tissues that is
one of the common hypothyroidism symptoms. But that’s a topic of another
article.
Studies
have also shown that these poor choices of hypothyroidism exercise cause your
body to stop producing T3 almost immediately. And if that’s not an indication
of a problem, then I don’t know what is.
I
think that most people fail to realize that hypothyroidism is a respiratory
problem. And without going into detail here, when you perform these types of
poor hypothyroidism exercise, it forces your body to shift even further away
from your healthy and thyroid supportive, oxidative energy system. And this
makes you even more hypothyroid, which continues to carry over even after your
workout.
So
here I’ve listed some of the worse kinds of hypothyroidism exercise that you
should be avoiding at all costs.
Cardiovascular
Exercise
Personally,
I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that so many people recommend cardio as a
good form of hypothyroid exercise. And because people tend to push themselves
to their limit when it comes to doing cardio, it makes it even worse.
Cardio
exercise causes a chronic stress response from your body which is extremely
catabolic. You might lose some weight but it is most likely going to be from
the breakdown of muscle tissue. And this process is not only stressful and
inflammatory to your body, but it also contributes to hypothyroidism.
Any
Form of Intense Exercise
I’ve
seen a major shift in the exercise world which has been brought around mostly
because cardio exercise doesn’t get results. And I think a large part of the
problem really stems from the fact that most people are hypothyroid to begin
with.
So,
there’s been a major shift away from traditional cardio and to shorter and much
more intense workouts. But this also has some major pitfalls, making it another
poor hypothyroidism exercise choice.
When
you’re hypothyroid, you already have a problem storing sugar in your liver. And
these intense workouts require your body to use large amounts of sugar very
quickly. And when this sugar isn’t available, then your body takes a beating.
And again, this causes significant amounts of stress that leave you unable to
recover and even more hypothyroid in the end.
The
Right Kind of Hypothyroidism Exercise
The
right kind of hypothyroidism exercise is very contradictory to the current
exercise philosophy of working harder to get better results. In most cases,
doing less is actually the key.
I’m
going to give you three forms of exercise that are highly recommended for
hypothyroidism. And this is because they are not catabolic in nature and do not
work to break down your body.
Instead
they promote and stimulate your body’s repair processes and create an anabolic,
or tissue rebuilding, effect.
There
are a few similarities between these three forms of good hypothyroidism
exercise that I think are worth pointing out.
One
of the biggest similarities is that they all place their primary focus on
proper breathing. And this is far more important that you probably realize.
They
do this because it’s the breathing techniques that they use which work to
stimulate your healthy oxidative energy system.
And
without going into too much detail, this triggers your parasympathetic nervous
system which is what promotes your body’s natural repair process.
And
you’ll also notice that none of these forms of exercise are intense. Instead
they are designed to focus on so much more than your muscles. They are
balancing your energy system, your hormones, and so many other processes that
work behind the scenes which are the true dictators of your health.
Instead
of creating stress on your body, they are actually lower your stress level and
hormones.
Below
I’ve listed 3 great forms of hypothyroidism exercise. Find which one resonates
with you the most and use it to your advantage.
Tai
Chi
I’m
a huge fan of Tai Chi and I think its benefits speak for itself.
I’ve
mentioned many times that thyroid function decreases with age and that many of
the health problems common among the elderly community are in fact a result of
hypothyroidism.
And
I think that the testament to the effectiveness of Tai Chi can be seen in the
amazing success that it has been providing the elderly community. It’s slowly
gaining ground with this age population but the results speak for themselves.
Also,
consider the fact that as you age, your body’s healing processes slow down. So,
if it’s this effective with the elderly, then imagine how effective it can be
for the younger population.
Qigong
Qigong
is another great type of hypothyroidism exercise. I understand that there are
many differences between Tai Chi and Qigong, but for all intensive purposes I
would say that they are similar in nature and the results that they provide.
Tai
Chi tends to be more structured whereas Qigong is freer flowing.
I
definitely recommend trying them both and finding which one you find you enjoy
more.
Yoga
Yoga
for hypothyroidism is one form of hypothyroidism exercise that you have to be a
little more careful about. And that’s because there are many different forms
and practices of yoga and not all are created equal.
You
really want to stick with a less intensive form that focuses heavier on breathing
and flexibility as opposed to many forms that are much more intense.
Again,
I cannot stress enough the importance of using the right kind of hypothyroidism
exercise as part of your treatment for hypothyroidism. It can really help
accelerate your results and health to new levels.
Author Bio:
Tom Brimeyer – The
author of Hypothyroidism Revolution – is a practitioner of functional medicine,
health researcher and author on nutrition, hormones and hypothyroidism.
His personal
mission is to inspire and educate people to take control and achieve true
health by correcting their hypothyroidism and underlying causes of their health
problems instead of being stuck relying on doctors and drugs that merely cover
up their symptoms while their health continues to suffer.
