Constipated and need to be less sedentary? Here are suggestions for folks who are not in a position or not interested to be athletic.
1. Breathe properly. Instead of breathing into the chest, breathe into the abdomen. Exhale slowly through slightly open mouth to clear as much air as possible in the lungs. Then inhale all the way down to the abdomen. This is regarded as one cycle of proper breathing.
2. Exercise before getting out of bed in the morning, a time the body is most likely to feel the urge for a bowel movement. Exercise helps to speed things up. Upon waking up, extend arms overhead and stretch arms and legs perhaps with a yawn or two.
If you wake up lying on your chest, you may start with this exercise: fold arms beneath chin and start to kick legs straight as if paddling in water. Lift one straightened knee up and alternate with the other for about 10 times, this exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles.
On the other hand, if you wake up lying on your back, start with this exercise: bend one leg using clasped hands to pull knee towards the chest. Alternate with the other leg. Then, sit up with legs extended straight and gently tap the back with knuckles.
3. Walk, walk, walk! Anyone with two legs in tact walks to get out of bed and subsequent to engage in the day's activities. Create lots of reasons to walk for 30 minutes most days of the week helps maintain overall health. People who cannot allocate a whole half-an-hour slot can take two or three "mini walks" to fulfill this required quota and still reap most of the health benefits.
It is also important to choose the right time . After meal, blood flow increases to the respective digestive organs to break down the food and move it along the gastrointestinal tract. To take a walk right after eating would direct blood towards heart and muscles instead. The decrease of blood supply in the digestive system slows down peristalsis and less digestive enzymes, resulting in bloating, gas and constipation. Therefore, the best time to go for walking exercise is to wait until a meal has been digested.
If possible, upgrade to brisk walking for better results.
Walking activates the colon so much that some athletic runners report diarrhea in the middle of running. A group of middle-age persons suffering from chronic idiopathic constipation reported improved bowel movements after brisk walking for three months, according to a study. No wonder an adage says a person's doctor is his left leg and right leg.
All the exercises mentioned above relaxes the body. When the body is relaxed, the autonomous nervous system increases the activity of the smooth muscle and glands in the digestive system, thus promoting peristalsis. This in turn lessens the transit of food in the intestines. The longer time food remains in the intestines, harder and drier stools are produced.
To what extent does exercise relax the body? A fifteen-minute walking, for example, triggers secretion of brain chemicals endorphins, that has a better calming effect than a mild tranquilizer.
Finally, tightening and relaxing the buttock muscles discreetly while walking or standing - trains the rectal area to relax at the time when stools need to exit.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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