book review by Carolyn
In No Sweat author Michelle Segar, PhD blows apart the commonly held misconception that in order to benefit from exercise, you have to go for 30+ minutes of sweating. So spoiler alert… you don’t have to sweat to benefit from movement.
I found No Sweat a great resource for me as I often don’t feel confident or even comfortable prioritizing time for self-care. And sense exercise has become something of a synonym for ‘punishment’ it’s easy to find reasons to skip formal exercise.
Segar says, “So why not move your body in ways that feel good to you instead?” Ah - ha! I love this shift in thinking. Instead of framing exercise as something I have to do, it has to be something I GET to do.
Key take-aways from No Sweat
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Doing what you enjoy is a better motivator for exercising - and it works.
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Life-centered activities such as house cleaning, gardening, and walking ‘count’.
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Activity does not have to be vigorous or make us sweat to ‘count’ as beneficial.
The author offers many re-framing and re-thinking exercises to re-conceptualize exercise from a chore to a gift. Many of us have deeply held beliefs that exercise must be a type of punishment. No Sweat helps evaluate where our ideas about exercise and health come from so that we can embrace movement as something that feels good, not because moving is ‘good for us’.
No Sweat gave me a refreshing way to look at all of my movement. Since reading this book I've given myself permission to park further away from my destinations so that I GET to walk a little more before arriving at my next stop. It’s small but it counts!
Akimboo.com loves No Sweat. For the research, sound advice, and excellent re-thinking exercises, Akimboo gives No Sweat a 5 star rating. If you like books like No Sweat see Akimboo’s review of The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner.
If you don’t have time for a full workout, try this 8 minute yoga flow (no sweating!) with Brett Larkin on Akimboo.com