The Health Benefits of Aerobic Exercise and Resistance Training

It's a good idea to start with light exercise after your surgery, such as walking. Once you pass the 30 day recovery period, it's a good time to expand your horizons by trying new forms of exercise you may not have considered before your Slimband procedure.

There are two categories of exercise to choose from: aerobic exercise, and resistance training. Aerobic exercise exerts your body through movement – jogging, cycling, and swimming all fall into this category. Resistance training involves lifting weights to increase muscle mass. We'll cover aerobic exercise first, and then address weight lifting.

Below you'll find brief primers on cycling, jogging, and swimming. These are meant to provide an introduction to the activity, and will also give you suggestions about ways to get started with these exercises:

Using a bicycle is a great way to improve cardiovascular health. As a bonus, it's also a form of transportation, so you can get a workout by going from A to B!

If you're looking to buy your first bicycle, a used bike shop is a good place to start. If you're using a stationary cycle, that's also a good idea. Stationary cycling has little impact on the body's joints, and is often used in rehabilitation programs for those with knee problems

As an added bonus, a bicycle is easier (and cheaper) to repair than a car. Sure, you might need to fix the occasional flat tire, but beyond that and an annual tune-up before the season begins, you should be good to go.

Before you start jogging, make sure you own a high quality pair of running shoes and proper clothes for exercise that you can sweat in while still remaining comfortable. It's also a good idea to have a couple pockets for your keys and a pack of gum.

Even before you begin, you'll need to make sure that you've done runners' stretches to prepare, which help ready your muscles for the coming exertion. It's also a good idea to stretch after you finish your jog in order to prevent muscle stiffness.

As with cycling, it's best to start small. Try doing 5 minute jogs twice a week, then 10 minutes the next week, and gradually work your way up to 30 minute jogs. You should feel your energy levels begin to increase the more you do. Jogging makes for an ideal group activity that you can do with friends.

Everyone into the pool! Swimming may bring back memories of camping with Scouts, if you've had that experience. It's great fun, and an ideal low impact exercise that will help your body burn calories.

A good swimsuit, towel, and a pool are all that you'll need for this exercise. As with jogging, it's not a bad idea to do some light stretching before you jump in. If you've never been swimming before, it might be a good idea to take a class or two at a local pool to learn the basics, like how to tread water, and proper etiquette for lane swims.

Weight lifting, also called resistance training, is based on the principle of moving your body against an opposing source, namely, weights. The goal of weight lifting is to overload the body's musculature gradually so it may become stronger.

You can even do this sitting on your couch with 5 Ibs weights. For weight lifting at the gym, it's a good idea to get a rundown of all the weight machines from the gym's staff. That way you'll know you're doing the exercises correctly, and will be less likely to injure yourself.

If you need any suggestions about what type of physical activity is right for you, feel free to give our Support staff a call at: 1.800.298.0684. You'll be able to speak with one of our call centre nurses, who can advise about what type of activity is right for you.

Now, let's get moving!