Get Up and Get Going! Sneaking Activity into Your Already Busy Day: Your Cornucopia of Choices.
If you're not ready to jump into a full-blown exercise program,
increasing your daily lifestyle activities can be a good alternative
to doing nothing at all. Active living is widely accepted as a new,
broader way of thinking about fitness. Being active means enjoying
physical activity and finding ways to be active every day- at home,
at work, in your community. Whether it is bowling, mowing the lawn
or playing sports, an active lifestyle does pay off.
In this new approach everyone can succeed. Being physically active improves your health in all sorts of ways. It lowers blood pressure, increases “good” HDL cholesterol and increases bone density. It improves the cardiovascular system and improves strength, endurance and flexibility of the muscles. It lowers stress and anxiety. Regular exercise lifts the moods. It relieves tension and helps put problems into perspective. Why not be active for the health of it?
We at your SHS know you’re busy. Work, family and school place a lot of demands on you. It doesn’t seem that there’s any time to be active. But there is. It’s like a great bargain; you just have to know where to look for it. .
Although looking for ways to move more doesn't take as much dedication as participating in a full-blown exercise program, it does takes a certain amount of commitment and creativity.
So what counts as activity? Anything that gets you moving. It all adds up. But you've constantly got to be on the lookout for good opportunities to get up and go. The SHS will give you a few quick examples that should work for virtually anyone –and most take little, if any, extra time.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Parking further from your classes and walking the extra way.
- Take walks between your classes
- Get up 30 minutes earlier and take a brisk walk
- Forget the drive-through carwash. Wash the car yourself.
- Play actively with your kids, grand kids, or pets.
- Before and after dinner, take a walk
- Ride your bike to work, school, or to a friends' home
- Walk to do errands that are just a few blocks away.
- Catch up with your around-the-house work: wash the windows, vacuum or shampoo the carpet, clean the garage or basement, sweep the sidewalk.
- Push your lawn mower instead of using the power-assisted drive.
Spring 2002 EB
ME? WHY SHOULD I FIND TIME TO EXERCISE?
Are there any life-long benefits of a regular exercise program? Consistently
done, exercise will give you more energy to do the activities you enjoy. It will
enhance your ability to study and to do the things you like to do at work and play.
Research has shown that aerobic exercise for 15-30 minutes at least every other day
will improve your sense of well being, mood, and self-esteem. Regular exercise
dissipates hormones and other chemicals that buildup during periods of high stress
and in turn reduces stress and anxiety. It has also been shown that routine exercise
can slow the age-related decline in the various physiological systems that many individuals
experience as they get older. Proper exercise can increase your aerobic capacity as you
age and can reverse the lost muscular fitness that typically occurs with aging. Weight-bearing
exercise along with adequate calcium increases the density of the bone structure and
can lessen the risk of osteoporosis. Exercise is one of the voluntary activities that
raises your level of HDL, the type of cholesterol that lowers your risk of heart disease.
Researchers have also found that exercisers go to sleep more quickly, sleep more soundly,
and are more refreshed than individuals who do not exercise. All factors considered,
individuals who exercise regularly have better memories, better reaction time and better
level of concentration than those who do not exercise. Energize and revitalize both your
body and mind. Engage in aerobic exercise on a regular and consistent basis throughout
your lifetime!
revised 06 owr