I don’t believe there is a single exercise which will confer all of those benefits, Scribble, but a solid plan of low-impact aerobic activity coupled with strength training (weightlifting) should get it all done, or nearly. “Solid plan” being key, both in the structure and execution. I jsut shake my head in wonderment when I see people in the gym flinging weights around, reading magazines on the bikes. I want to ask them: why are you bothering? Just for the mental masturbation of thinking you have accomplished something by showing up and going through the motions?
Anyway, all good fitness pros agree that you should change your workout periodically no matter what you do because your body adapts, and the point is to continue to improve. Currently my workout includes all the biggies, in varying proportions according to my mood: elliptical trainer (level 6, 35 minutes, 12-15 of those in reverse. The readout last night said 2.2 miles. Heartrate at 135-140 avg throughout), treadmill ( I walk, and I try to do as much as possible at full incline), regular bike, recumbent bike and crosstrain bike, freestyle dance (I do that at home…heheheh), and my exercise “dessert”: swimming! I’m clocking half a mile in 23 minutes these days, which aint’ too damn bad for a middle aged fat broad! (My swim is greatly enhanced by both my cool new finger lap counter and my FABULOUS underwater MP3 player…)
I also do various floor exercises, I’ve started to do some Pilates Performer stuff, and I use free weights and machines. The key elements there are isolating the muscles and doing it slowly, in a very focused way. That’s what drives me batss about people in the gym…hello, when you do it that way, folks, you are relying on both momentum and muscles other than the ones you are trying to condition. Ya aint’ gonna get nowheres that way!
I’m becoming a bloody gymrat…I LOVE IT!
(Still HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE getting hot, though. I have these waterabsorbing scarves designed to keep you cool; I freeze em and stick one down my pants, one in my bra, one around my neck, one around my head. I also will sometimes soak my wifebeater workout T and bra in cold water, and STILL I cant’ wait to get to the pool to cool off, because all those frozen water scarves are actually warm by the time I’m about 25 minutes in to the workout. Man, I really hate being hot, whether it’s from the sun or my own efforts. Bleh! that’s one thing I like about working out at home, I can manipulate the vents in my house so that my home gym is like a refrigerator. Yeah! )
If anyone reading this wants a little tip to help get and keep you motivated, especially to help make sure you are actually getting the workout you want to be getting, I can offer a big one that I think really made a difference for me: get and use a heart monitor. I bought one that can be used in the pool as well as on land, and the cool thing I discovered about mine is that its’ the same kind in all the exercise machines, so i dont’ need to hold the sensors, I’m sending the data to the machines in the same way it gets sent to the watch on my wrist. (The actual monitor is in a kind of belt you wear around your middle between your chest and stomach.) By constantly being aware of what my heart was doing, and staying focused on getting it where I wanted it to go, I was able to make absolutely sure I progressed. It really makes a disgnificant difference in my workout. I can clearly tell that it is taking MUCH more to get my heart to the same level than it did months ago. It’s also really great to see what fantastic recovery my heart has. The instant I slow down or stop my heart rate drops like a stone, which is cool. Sign of a strong ticker.)