Adopt a healthy lifestyle

• Excessive shortness of breath
• Dizziness, headaches, nausea, sudden weakness
• Leg or stomach cramps
• Tightening in the chest
• The feeling that you have reached your limits and can no longer keep up the pace

Some exercises are more demanding than others, and you need to pay more attention while doing them. For example:

• shovelling snow or digging soil
• raking leaves or the lawn
• using a lawnmower or snowblower
• washing windows
• waxing your car
• chopping wood
• lifting heavy items

All of these activities require a great amount of muscle strength, and after repeating the same movement a number of times, you can become very out of breath and feel weak. Pay attention and remember to gauge your intensity by asking yourself whether you are able to talk and whether you have reached your limits. These activities are not contraindicated, but it is highly recommended that you take regular breaks and pay close attention to how you feel as you perform these tasks.

When it's cold outside, your heart has to pump blood to your extremities to keep you warm, which means that your resting heart rate increases. It's not really the cold temperature but rather the wind that makes it more difficult to exercise outside. Putting a scarf around your mouth to warm up the air you breathe in can help you stay outside longer. However, if you are still feeling the chill, move your exercise indoors. You don't have to brave all types of weather to get a workout. The same goes for heat waves; you should avoid exercising in hot weather and instead opt for an air-conditioned environment.

A stress test consists of walking on a treadmill to determine your exercise capacity. This test is used to detect any problems that may arise during exercise. Based on the results, a personalized physical activity program can be created for you.

Yes, active muscles generate heat during physical exertion, which raises your core temperature. In fact, the body becomes a veritable furnace. The main way it gets rid of excess heat is through the evaporation of sweat on the surface of the skin. This sweating mechanism controls body temperature but also leads to significant losses in water and salt. It is therefore essential that you drink water before, during and after exercise to replace lost fluids and avoid the symptoms of dehydration, which include fatigue, decreased performance, slight headache, dizziness and nausea. For each 15-minute session of moderate physical activity, you should drink 150 ml of water. Drinking regularly before you are thirsty is a good habit to adopt. Once you start feeling thirsty, your body has already started to become dehydrated. Adequate hydration also allows the body to recover faster.

There are a wide range of sports shoes on the market. The key is to buy shoes that are comfortable and right for your chosen activity. If you want to go jogging, you need good jogging shoes; if you want to do power walking, you need good walking shoes, etc. If you play a number of different sports, you need to get multi-sport shoes that are suitable for all of your activities. Keep these shoes for exercise only to make them last longer and prevent early wear and tear of the soles and padding. It is also recommended that you change your shoes regularly to protect your joints.