Two weeks ago, Callie and Lauren started an initiative called Bloggers For Health which is exactly what you expect -- a series of posts, on Saturdays, promoting better health. Each Saturday has a different focus, provided by Lauren. Participants, of which there are 18, write about their experiences on that topic.
I am eager to join this initiative because I know the importance of good health. Not only does fitness improve the quality of your life, by giving you greater energy and enthusiasm, it also affects the quantity of your life. Too many people in my age-group suffer debilitating illnesses (e.g., diabetes; heart disease) that are entirely preventable. After a few decades of living poorly, your body will exhibit negative consequences we could have avoided by simply being a little more active.
The best workout plan is the one you do. You can have the most ambitious, elaborate plan -- but unless you implement it, it's empty words. The key is actual action.
Some bloggers are going to give you a detailed calender of exercises; I'm going to give you an idea. The most important thing you can do for fitness is to move. Moving our bodies is natural exercise and critical to health. Studies find that people who physically move more during the day have better overall health.
Like many of you, I have a demanding job and little time for luxuries like formal exercise. So I figured out how to squeeze physical movement into my day in an easy, organic way. There is a Post Office a quarter-mile from my law office. Two or three times a day, I walk to the Post Office and mail stuff. This adds up to a mile or two a day, plus the walks give me a welcome break from a stressful atmosphere. Being away from my office relieves stress and oxygen filling my lungs during those walks renews vigor.
In addition to this, I do the following as regularly as I can. One day I do simple exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, leg-lifts and squats. The next day I use a Nordic-track which is like walking with resistance. A third day I lift light weights. On the fourth day I rest. Then I begin the cycle over again. It's important to work different parts of your body and rest between exertion so your body has time to heal itself. It takes roughly 48 hours for muscles to re-build.
What do you do for exercise? Do you walk much?
Feel free to join Callie and Lauren's healthy movement. Go here.
I must admit that I don't work out that much. I dance once or twice a week, I do yoga weekly, and I go everywhere on my bike, but that's about it. Once I make the change to using public transport or a car, I'll have to come up with a more detailed plan.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was retraining over the last couple of years I needed to find a cheap and convenient hobby that could be fitted into a busy schedule (my previous exercise class took up all morning by the time I drove there and back and showered). Eighteen months ago I took up running with some friends. Now we run two or three times a week and ran a couple of half marathons this summer.
ReplyDeleteIn this way I'm lucky to be able to combine my exercise with my social life and I'm off to the running group's halloween party tonight with my husband and the children.
Sebbie
I love getting outside as much as possible, this summer we bought bikes and rode a lot. As the weather is getting colder, we decided to join the gym that is just around the corner from our house. So far its been great! Our niece and nephew (Julia and Colin) also are members so its nice for us to all go together and they keep us motivated! Also throughout the year I participate in different organized walks and runs!
ReplyDeleteGood idea and I agree exercise and good food habits are the way to go, but I would just like to point out in a nice way, that heart disease isnt entirely preventable. I have what they class as heart disease and my arteries are fine very nice and clear and I was always very healthy and fit. Unfortunately due to some poor genes and possibly a virus I caught in 2006 my heart itself has been damaged so its not always possibly however much you do to remain totally healthy. I totally agree we should all do our very best and exercise and eat healthily wherever possible. xx
ReplyDeleteThat's a great initiative. And I agree with you, a good workout is the one that works for you! :)
ReplyDelete♡ from © tanvii.com
That's a good plan to get extra walking by going back and forth to the post office, something you have to do anyway. I haven't been exercising as much as I'd like to. You're right that you have to stick to a plan or else it's just emmpty words.
ReplyDeleteI walk as much as I can. That's my best exercise daily. Btw for those interested Walgreens is doing a thing where you can get a pedometer for free. This tells more: http://walk.walgreens.com/
ReplyDeleteYou need to also remember that exercise is also a habit...After a break, it takes me about two weeks of dragging myself off to the gym...actually forcing myself to go and trying to make all sorts of excuses and reasons not to go - fortnately I have a wonderful gym partner who puts her car onto automatic pilot when I try to change her mind and make her go for coffee and scones...After about two weeks, the habit kicks in, and then it has to be "hell or high water" that makes me miss it....We normally try to do a variety, currently we are both busy at work, so it is sometimes difficult to get out at lunchtime, but we try and we swim whenever work lets us - there is an annual open water swim of a mile which we have done for two years...it is in February, so we need to train as much as we can for that...Lots of love...
ReplyDeleteThe dog an I do about a mile (almost) every afternoon. It keeps us BOTH in better shape, puts me in a better mood, and gets me outside (no matter what the weather).
ReplyDeleteI walk everywhere since I don't drive. Today I walked to the grocery store, then to a village to return rented movies - I'd forgotten to buy milk, so I hefted the giant jug all the way home, doing curls with it.
ReplyDeleteI also do "pee pushups" at work - every time you pee, before you wash your hands, do 10 pushups off the bathroom counter. My counter at work is quite low, so my arms and upper body gett a good workout and I do 40-60 pushups a day.
I also take the stairs (120 steps) to my office every day!
I am very much into fitness as part of keeping my weight off, as well as the mental benefits as you noted!
I totally agree. Just to get moving a bit more is so great and important! Simple things can improve your health.. I totally agree. love this :)
ReplyDeletehttp://themiddlex.blogspot.com/2011/10/bloggers-for-health-week-2-and.html
I am the laziest person.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to exercise because i don't like to sweat.
Which is the reason i have been considering pilates.
I do enjoy walking.... i guess it counts for something.
I just started to go to Zumba classes, on the advice of a coworker who convinced me by saying it was like dancing. She was partially right...but my quads and obliques have never felt like that after dancing. So it's definitely a work out. Still, I have fun doing it. Add to that my job, which has me on my feet for stretches of up to 10 hours a day, that includes moderate to heavy lifting, and I stay relatively fit and active.
ReplyDeleteI bike to the LIRR everyday :)
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