Physical Activity in Your Daily Life

At Home
It’s convenient, comfortable and safe to work out at home. It allows your children to see you being active, which sets a good example for them. You can combine exercise with other activities, such as watching TV. If you buy exercise equipment, it’s a one-time expense and other family members can use it. It’s easy to have short bouts of activity several times a day. Try these tips:

• Do housework yourself instead of hiring someone else to do it.
• Work in the garden or mow the grass. Using a riding mower doesn’t count! Rake leaves, prune, dig and pick up trash.
• Go out for a short walk before breakfast, after dinner or both! Start with 5-10 minutes and work up to 30 minutes.
• Walk or bike to the corner store instead of driving.
• When walking, pick up the pace from leisurely to brisk. Choose a hilly route. When watching TV, sit up instead of lying on the sofa. Better yet, spend a few minutes pedaling on your stationary bicycle while watching TV. Throw away your video remote control. Instead of asking someone to bring you a drink, get up off the couch and get it yourself.
• Stand up while talking on the telephone.
• Walk the dog.
• Park farther away at the shopping mall and walk the extra distance. Wear your walking shoes and sneak in an extra lap or two around the mall.
• Stretch to reach items in high places and squat or bend to look at items at floor level.
• Keep exercise equipment repaired and use it!

At the Office
Most of us have sedentary jobs. Work takes up a significant part of the day. What can you do to increase your physical activity during the work day? Why not…:

• Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk.
• Stand while talking on the telephone.
• Walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone or email.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Or get off a few floors early and take the stairs the rest of the way.
• Walk while waiting for the plane at the airport.
• Stay at hotels with fitness centers or swimming pools and use them while on business trips.
• Take along a jump rope in your suitcase when you travel. Jump and do calisthenics in your hotel room.
• Participate in or start a recreation league at your company.
• Form a sports team to raise money for charity events.
• Join a fitness center or Y near your job. Work out before or after work to avoid rush-hour traffic, or drop by for a noon workout.
• Schedule exercise time on your business calendar and treat it as any other important appointment.
• Get off the bus a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way to work or home.
• Walk around your building for a break during the work day or during lunch.

At Play
Play and recreation are important for good health. Look for opportunities such as these to be active and have fun at the same time:

• Plan family outings and vacations that include physical activity (hiking, backpacking, swimming, etc.)
• See the sights in new cities by walking, jogging or bicycling.
• Make a date with a friend to enjoy your favorite physical activities. Do them regularly.
• Play your favorite music while exercising, something that motivates you.
• Dance with someone or by yourself. Take dancing lessons. Hit the dance floor on fast numbers instead of slow ones.
• Join a recreational club that emphasizes physical activity.
• At the beach, sit and watch the waves instead of lying flat. Better yet, get up and walk, run or fly a kite.
• When golfing, walk instead of using a cart.
• Play singles tennis or racquetball instead of doubles.
• At a picnic, join in on badminton instead of croquet.
• At the lake, rent a rowboat instead of a canoe.

Becoming Active

Inspiring video from folks who changed a very small behavior and enhance their well-being. Before you start your physical activity, it is important to complete the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire created by the American Heart Association.

Childhood Obesity in America

Video from the Public Internet Channel.

Indoor Cycling Workout # 37

Free 56-minute live indoor cycling workout from 2/2007: Workout 37

The Art of Aging

Book: “The Art of Aging: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self” – by Alice & Richard Matzkin

Heart Rate Recovery and Fitness

The best way is to race and see how much faster you become. However, you don’t need to do that.  You can also use a simple test called Heart Rate Recovery.  Tim Noakes, a former marathon runner, followed competitive bicycle racers through a four-week very-intense training program and showed that a simple test that can be done by anyone, Heart Rate Recovery, was as accurate as a measurement of improvement as more sophisticated and expensive tests, such as peak power output, VO(2max) or a 40-km time trial (European journal of applied physiology. March, 2009;105(5):705-13.)

This test should be done only by people who have no hidden heart disease, since exercising to your maximum can cause a heart attack in people who have damaged hearts.

Exercise as hard as you can, close to the fastest your heart can beat, for at least a few minutes. Use a heart rate monitor to check your pulse just before you stop and then again one minute later.  If you are fit, your heart rate will drop 30 beats or more in the first minute.  As your level of fitness improves, your heart rate recovery increases also.

Taken fr: drmirkin.com

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