By Dr. D’Adamo

You have heard it in nearly every commercial for weight loss before: diet and exercise work hand in hand. Although most of these plans mention the correlation, few actually personalize both experiences to benefit you. Your Blood Type is the key to not just the foods you eat, but also the activities that best suit your body. Here are some general guidelines to remember that will help you optimize your workouts for your body!

Type O:
A regular, intense exercise program is more important for Type O individuals than any other type. The most successful form of exercise is cardio-based, including running, cycling, swimming and martial arts. If you are incapable of anything too high-impact, start with walking and make it increasingly brisk as you get stronger. The main unifying thread that makes all the exercises for Type O’s effective is an elevated heart rate, which plays a key role in lowering stress, balancing your emotions and shedding pounds.

Type A:
Type A individuals do best with low impact, relaxation based workouts including tai-chi, aerobics and yoga. Although these sort of calming exercises are best, it doesn’t mean you can’t break a sweat in the process. Even if you prefer some higher impact activities, maintain mental calmness to benefit your body most. Heavily competitive sports that strain your body and your mind will stress you more than help you. A calm mind is important at all times. To optimize your experience with calming exercise, train your breathing first and your muscles second. Once you get used to steady, relaxed breathing patterns, your muscles will become less tense and you can tone them through flexibility-based motion.

Type B:
B is for balance when it comes to exercising. A good mix of the intense exercise from Blood Type O and relaxing ones from Type A is ideal. Try 3 days of intense with 2 days of relaxation, split up however you find it most comfortable. Some people like to have all their intense workouts first then have cooldown days of yoga and tai chi, while others like to alternate back and forth. Whatever pattern works for you is just fine, as long as you mix the two types of exercises.

Type AB:
Individuals with Blood Type AB usually share characteristics from both of their namesakes. Exercise is no exception. Like Blood Type A individuals, Type AB will find the greatest stress release and health from meditative activities. But they also crave some balance from their B counterpart, which pulls in the need for some more aggressive workouts from time to time as well. Like Type B’s, Type AB’s should have a regimen that includes a bit of both relaxed and more high-octane exercises to truly improve their health.