My first detox experience was in 2008. Since then, I have detoxed and fasted several times, up to 28 days at a time. During all my detoxes, I have exercised and learnt a lot about myself. One of the main lessons has been the way I process calories and what I need to make exercise during detox worthwhile. A practical session is when I complete what I wanted to do in the allotted time. This could be a walk or light run. However, it’s always essential to have a plan before each session.

Always go to the gym or your exercise activity knowing what you will do and try and stick to it. As it is known, Junk miles is a common mistake many people make when they exercise during detox without a plan. During the first couple of detoxes, I have found what type of exercise works best with detoxing. This means using the available energy without having to stop during the session. You can find additional training where you can get personalised guided sessions while detoxing.

Basic types of exercise such as walking and bike riding work well for most people. The ‘buzz’ is HIITs training. High-intensity interval training. Going hard, resting, going hard etc. As long as the efforts’ going hard’ are longer than the recovery ‘resting’, you are doing it correctly.

Crossfit is another popular type of fitness training. The Crossfit endurance classes are a lot of fun, especially when detoxing, as there are hours of ‘afterburn’.

Any exercise requires fuel. Detoxing and training can be tricky. If your fuel intake is minimal, what will happen to you once you have depleted the first fuel line, stored carbohydrates and sugars? It’s what runners’ call ‘hitting the wall’ or ‘bonking’. Full body fatigue, nausea, weakness and dizziness quickly set in, and you need to stop what you are doing and rest.

This type of fatigue is seriously, especially when you feel like you have nothing left. I have experienced hitting the wall myself and seen it a lot when I train guests at New Leaf. I have seen guests bonk, rest, bonk, rest and then stop. What happens the exercise bursts become shorter and harder to do. It’s at this point when stopping is the sensible option.

Don’t try to ‘push through’ heavy fatigue. The risk of injury or complete muscle dehydration is exceptionally high, which may take days or weeks to recover. Hydration and natural supplementation is an essential part of your training.

The guest will arrive for a session. Usually, the first few days of their detox and they will go for it. They still have some stored carbs to burn, they are highly motivated, and the first few sessions go well. Then the fuel runs out. In detox at New Leaf, day four is a liver flush day. Day five is a rest and recovery day.

Managing training sessions from day six needs to be very strategic. It’s important to shorten the sessions and do them after some fibrous fuel—the meals at New Leaf fuel training. An example of this would be a more fibrous soup the night preceding a long morning walk. While this won’t get you through a 10km race, it will be enough for you to train your body and get toning and calorie burn benefits from the session.

Walking on a treadmill on an incline is a great start. You can set a moderate pace with an incline of 3%, warm up for 2 minutes then increase the incline to 10% without changing the pace. The effort (time spent at 10%) needs to be longer than the recovery (time spent at 3%). I like the 2-minute effort 30-second recovery sets. Do this 10-15 times and you have had a good, useful session. Remember to hydrate. During the 30 second recovery and a small sip of water. Staying hydrated during and after exercise, especially during detox is crucial for muscle recovery and health.

It’s important to make sure you have the reserves to get home. What I mean by that is being able to walk home from the gym or find your way back. The first time I detoxed and exercised I hit the wall at about 5km from New Leaf and had nothing left. It started raining and I didn’t have a cell phone so I sat in the rain until I had enough energy to walk back. It wasn’t a very nice experience and I have never done that again. Here’s a list of what I think is good muscle toning and fun.

• Paddleboarding
• Bike Riding
• Walking (in the gym or outside)
• Yoga
• Swimming (in the pool or ocean)
• Hiking

 

Plus there are many other forms. it’s what works best for you. At New Leaf, we offer a lot of different types of exercise and guided sessions so you are in good hands. If you have any questions about exercise and detox and the different things you can do contact us and we’ll get back to you.

If you would like more information about wellness and our detox, weight loss packages please visit the wellness programs page.