HEALTH + BODY
THE
BODY T Y P E
WO R KO U T
PLAN
We are all biochemically and structurally
unique, so shouldn’t we be exercising uniquely
as well? Both cutting-edge science and an-
cient wisdom agree on this point and offer
ample insight on how to do it right.
by dr. suhas kshirsagar
12 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
“
We all need exercise every day, but we don’t
all need the same amount or the same level
of exertion.
The Right Exercise for You
When people think about exercise, they usu-
ally think in terms of building muscle or los-
ing weight. But exercise is so much more
than that. While you must eat and sleep in
order to stay alive, exercise is a different but
equally crucial kind of habit. It’s something
you must choose to do every day to maintain
your body’s vitality. It’s a chance to breathe
fully, to work and build muscle, and it can
also burn fat if you are doing it at the right
time. You can also do too much exercise and
put yourself at risk of inflammation or injury
if you are doing exercise routines that are too
intense for your body type.
We all need exercise every day, but we don’t
all need the same amount or the same level of
exertion. What’s more, some people do best
in group classes, where they can socialize and
stay focused. Others need solo walks or runs
to clear their heads. A few people need com-
petition or high levels of exertion, but these
are the exception. No tendency is better than
another. The question is: What kind of exer-
cise do you need? Only when you know your
body type and how you respond to exercise
physically and mentally, can you choose the
right fitness program for you.
To find out how your body responds to ex-
ercise, you can take this short quiz. What we
are looking for is your natural response to ex-
ercise from your own experience. For each of
these questions, find the answer that best de-
scribes you.
Exercise Type Quiz
1. When you were a teenager, how much ex-
ercise did you get?
a. I did some dance classes, but no formal ex-
ercising. I was rushing around doing other
things.
b. I loved team sports. I was always outside
playing some kind of game.
c. I was not that active. I liked socializing,
reading, or hanging out.
Winter 2018 13
photo: efe kurnaz
HEALTH + BODY
“
No tendency is better than another.
The question is: What kind of exercise
do you need?
2. If you played organized sports (or even kick
the can) as a kid, what did you like best about
it?
a. Every game was different and interesting. I
liked chatting during the game.
b. I loved winning and seeing how hard I
could push to win.
c. I liked the social aspects. It was a great way
to hang out with other people, and there were
often snacks afterward.
3. When you do go to the gym, what is going
to get on your nerves the most?
a. I have to have music or something to read
or someone to talk to or I lose interest.
b. Someone using the machine that I want to
use. I don’t want anything slowing me down.
c. Being surrounded by people who are ob-
sessed with their fitness and their bodies.
4. When you’ve tried working out in the past,
14 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
what got in the way?
a. When my workout feels like a rut, I start
skipping days.
b. Work deadlines are the only thing that gets
in the way.
c. I lose my motivation to get to the gym if
there is anything else I’d rather do.
5. If you engage in exercise that’s more in-
tense than usual, how do you feel afterward?
a. Exhausted and wrung out. I need a nap.
b. It resets my emotions; it takes the edge off
of my anger and frustration.
c. I feel lighter and more focused.
6. What is it about your daily routine that gets
in the way of regular exercise?
a. I’m overscheduled as it is. So the workout
drops off my to-do list.
b. Exercise is always a priority. I’d rather ex-
ercise than eat lunch.
c. My schedule isn’t the problem. Motivation
is the problem.
7. If you have to skip working out for a few
days, how do you feel?
a. Not that different. Unfortunately, this
makes it easier to pass on exercise.
b. Frustrated and fearful that I’m losing my
level of fitness.
c. Dull and heavy, especially in the morning.
I feel bloated.
8. The best kind of workout is one in which I:
a. Feel energized but not exhausted.
b. Sweat and struggle enough to know that
I’m getting fit and toned.
c. Move from feeling reluctant to feeling that
I’ve accomplished something.
9. What I’m most concerned about when I
HEALTH + BODY
start a new exercise program is:
a. Am I going to struggle with nagging pain or
get an injury?
b. Is this going to be intense enough to pro-
duce results?
c. Am I going to be motivated enough to con-
tinue?
10. How would you describe your body type?
a. Naturally short or thin, with smaller bones
at the wrists and ankles.
b. Strong bones and good muscle tone.
c. Big-boned and sturdy.
To score the quiz: Add up the answers. If your
answer for most questions was A, I would say
you are a variable exerciser. If your answers
were mostly Bs, you are a strong exerciser.
And if you answered mostly Cs, I would say
you are a light exerciser.
Winter 2018 15
HEALTH + BODY
“
As a variable exerciser, while other body
types can be energized by an intense
workout, you tend to feel spent.
Variable Exercisers
As a variable exerciser, you’re someone who
wants to be fit, but often finds that something
gets in the way. In Ayurvedic terms, your body
type would be called “vata,” which means
air. And like the air, you are shifting, swirling
mass of ambitions, plans, and contradictory
impulses. As a result, you probably exercise
in streaks. You have found exercise routines
or fads that worked for you for a few weeks
or months, and then when you got bored or
suffer an injury, you forget to exercise.
Exercise might also be a struggle because
of your variable energy levels. Variable exer-
cisers who engage in intense workouts may
find themselves wrung out and emotionally
exhausted afterward. While other body types
can be energized by an intense workout, you
tend to feel spent, and it may take you nine-
ty minutes or more to rebuild the energy you
need to focus on your other goals. You can also
put yourself at risk for injury: dry joints can
get inflamed and sore, especially if you don’t
16 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
photo: gert boers
have enough healthy oils in your diet.
Here are some pointers I offer to people of
this body type:
»» Stay mentally engaged in your exercise.
You need to find exercise that engag-
es your mind as well as your body. That
probably means a fitness class where you
can move to music or follow instructions.
Yoga is also a great choice because it can
calm your racing thoughts and deep-
en the mind/body connection. By con-
trast, reading and watching TV while on
the treadmill is a bad idea because you
are not paying attention to the way your
body feels during exercise. This puts you
at greater risk for injury and exhaustion.
»» Less is more. Look for grounding exercis-
es that increase flexibility at a more re-
laxed pace. This means yoga, Pilates, tai
chi, walking or hiking, or cycling. Don’t
worry about whether you are sweating
Winter 2018 17
HEALTH + BODY
“
As a strong exerciser, in your exercise routine,
you crave intensity, heat, and progress.
enough or straining enough. Ideally, you
should feel energized and calm during
your exercise routine and afterward. If
instead you feel light-headed, depleted,
or suffer from muscle cramps, you have
probably done too much. Interval train-
ing is great for this body type because you
have short bursts of high intensity fol-
lowed by much longer rest periods.
»» Make time to warm up. Other body types
can jump into an intense routine with
minimal warm-up, but not you. You need
to stretch and spend time doing deep
breathing while you ease into a work-
out. This is particularly true in winter,
when variable exercisers struggle with
chills and poor circulation that keeps
their hands and feet cold. Make sure you
use a lot of stretching and at least five to
ten minutes of walking or jogging lightly
to get your circulation moving and your
lungs working before you dive in.
18 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
Strong Exercisers
As a strong exerciser, you probably live by
the motto “no pain, no gain.” In Ayurvedic
terms, you would be a “pitta,” which means
fire. In your exercise routine, you crave in-
tensity, heat, and progress. When you are
not at the gym, you are on a bike, on a tennis
court, or swimming laps. The best thing about
working out is knowing that you are getting
stronger and more capable every day. Sched-
uling workouts is no problem for you, just as
keeping a regular routine in your daily life is a
priority. Even on vacation, you are looking to
get as much out of every day as possible.
Strong exercisers usually have a large ap-
petite because their digestive fire is as intense
as their personalities, and so you may have
felt that exercise was a great way to balance
your love of food. Having a strong body and
an equally strong metabolism works well as a
weight-loss solution until middle age. At that
point, many strong exercisers find that their
metabolism shifts and their bodies no longer
build muscle at the same rapid rate.
If you have this body type, here are a few
things to keep in mind as you exercise:
»» Leverage your love of competition and in-
tensity. You have a stronger natural drive
and love to feel challenged, so a difficult
workout helps reset your emotions. Try
to engage in sports that combine compe-
tition with exercise, such as basketball,
racquetball, or martial arts. Any activi-
ty that requires you to track your prog-
ress helps you stay motivated, including
CrossFit training or distance biking. You
can excel at winter sports because your
body isn’t affected by the cold. Be care-
ful too about pursuing adventure sports,
such as BMX biking, extreme skiing,
snowboarding, which can also take a toll
on your body.
»» Avoid lunchtime workouts. You are often
over-scheduled, and that means that you
HEALTH + BODY
are tempted to exercise later in the eve-
ning or at the noon hour, instead of eat-
ing. Noon workouts push your blood flow
away from your digestive tract, which
will upset your stomach when you do eat.
Morning workouts will offer you an emo-
tional reset first thing, so that you can face
the day calmly and with greater focus.
»» Stay cool. You have a natural fire, mean-
ing that your body temperature runs
high. You sweat a lot when you work out,
and that’s fine, but you need to make sure
you don’t get overheated. High heat in-
creases inflammation and puts you at risk
for injury, so be sure to hydrate, and you
may also benefit from a cool shower af-
ter an intense workout. This natural fire
also speaks to your emotional intensity.
You can and do push yourself too hard
in competition, and that’s when you get
hurt. You sometimes try to lift too much
weight, or force your body to do things it
Winter 2018 19
20 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine Winter 2018 21
HEALTH + BODY
“
As a light exerciser, an intense workout will fill
you with vitality and give you a healthy glow.
can’t. The antidote to this is staying cool
mentally as well as physically: keep your
mind sharply tuned to your body while
you work out. Stay curious about how
you feel during each exercise. Swimming
is an ideal exercise for this body type, es-
pecially if you are dealing with nagging
injuries, because it keeps the body cool
and takes the pressure off your joints.
Light Exercisers
Light exercisers often struggle to get enough
healthy exercise. You may go to the gym in-
termittently, but it’s never been a priority. In
Ayurvedic terms, your body type is called a
“kapha” or water type. You are too easygoing
to get obsessed with your body or to get caught
up in competitive activities. And that’s a good
thing. But you do need exercise. Without it,
your body takes on excess fluids and you feel
sluggish and dull. Of all the body types, yours
responds best to exercise because you rarely
face injury and you never tire.
An intense workout will fill you with vital-
ity and give you a healthy glow. This may be
22 Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
previous: zoltan tasi
a revelation, because a lot of light exercisers
think of themselves as overweight. Your body
type is one that built bones and tissues early in
life. And as you sailed through the teen years
and young adult life, you may have struggled
to lose weight. And you may have a tendency
to put on weight, regardless of what you eat.
Here are some guidelines for choosing the
best exercise plan for you:
»» Do anything that causes you to breathe
deeply. Some of my patients say that ex-
ercise is better than coffee in the morn-
ing, because it makes them feel so focused
and alive.
»» Go the distance. This body type has the
most endurance because you have larg-
er bones and more tissues. You can work
your body endlessly without worrying
too much about injury or exhaustion.
That means you will do really well with
power walks, hiking, rowing, distance
running or biking, or anything that re-
quires steady, sustained energy. Even
if you start with walking, you can build
up longer distances, then alternate with
running and walking. Eventually, you can
add weight training or a higher intensity
class such as spinning or aerobics. Once
you get past your inertia, you work hard-
er and longer than anyone in any fitness
class.
»» Connect to your body. It’s important to
notice how you feel during your work-
out and afterward. Many people with
this body type have forgotten how great
they feel while engaging in intense exer-
cise. They have forgotten how light they
feel and how clear their minds get. Make
time to notice the natural high that comes
from exercise and you will be more likely
to keep doing it.
Excerpted with permission from Change
Your Schedule, Change Your Life by Dr. Su-
has Kshirsagar and Michelle D. Seaton.
Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar is an internationally
HEALTH + BODY
recognized leader in the ancient science of
Ayurveda, which emphasizes a comprehen-
sive, whole-body approach to health. His
mission is to empower people to take control
of their wellbeing and help them restore their
body’s natural, happy balance. In addition
to running his private clinic in Santa Cruz,
California, he frequently shares the stage
with many of the top pioneers in health and
wellness circles, including Deepak Chopra
and Tony Robbins, and is a keynote speak-
er and faculty member at several Ayurve-
dic institutions worldwide. Visit his website
ayurvedichealing.net
Michelle Seaton is an award-winning jour-
nalist, NPR reporter and the co-author of
several fitness and health books, including
Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life and
Living with Cancer. Her writing has ap-
peared in numerous magazines and literary
journals including Reader’s Digest.
Winter 2018 23