Good Morning Everyone! 

Working Out on a Cleanse

Detoxing doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your fitness routine completely.  Depending on the cleanse you choose, you may need to take caution before jumping into your normal activity routine and find an alternative such as yoga or pilates.  For example, if you choose the Master Cleanse or a cleanse where you are consuming less than 800 calories daily, it is NOT recommended you participate in vigorous cardio or heavy strength training workouts.  That being said, here are some of the best workout/cleanse match-ups:

Running/Cycling + A Raw Food Cleanse

For endurance workouts, you need solid food to sustain energy.  Make sure you get plenty of raw solids like avocados, nut butters, nut milks, whole fruits, and vegetables.  Shoot for a minimum of 1,200 calories a day and add some artichoke protein for muscle repair. 

Yoga + Juice Cleanse

The sugars in a cleanse that includes orange and red juices, like carrot and beet blends, will stimulate and sustain you.  Yoga promotes internal reflection, which makes pairing it with a juice cleanse easy as it is not very hard on the body.  For intense or hot yoga, consider adding on a protein-rich drink to aid in recovery.  A common 28-gram pick is: a blend of Valrhona chocolate, pea protein, golden raisins, and raw almonds. 

Low-Intensity Cardio (Walking/Cycling) + Green Juice Cleanse

Even low-intensity cardio requires the necessary get up and go, so if 6 daily juices isn’t enough, bump it up to 8. Go as deep as you can with an all-green juice plan that also includes metabolism-heating spices like jalapeno, potassium-rich coconut water, and system purifiers like cilantro and chlorophyll. Coconut water will help keep your electrolytes from getting low and boost hydration for added energy. 

These are just a few examples related to the types of cleanses we outlined in the previous email, for more information on these pairings visit: http://q.equinox.com/articles/2014/02/cleanses

All of the possible harmful consequences of exercising vigorously make it sound as if all exercise is completely off limits on cleanse days, but this is not the case. Not all exercise is equal in stressing the body.

Here’s the bottom line, the intensity and duration of the exercise matters most on cleanse days. Certainly it would not be a good idea to engage in a sport competition on a cleanse day, and might also be a good idea to avoid activities that involve heavy weight lifting, repeated bursts of alternating intense bouts of exercise (i.e. sprint track workouts or soccer), and performing for long periods (i.e. 10k run). Less vigorous activities such as walking and yoga would still burn extra calories, but would not place as much strain on the body.  Listen to your body :).

For more information visit: www.isagenixhealth.net/to-exercise-or-not-to-exercise-during-cleanse-days/