This helpful infographic shares 5 simple tips for boosting the effectiveness of your workouts, and getting more results out of your daily exercise.
Showing posts with label daily exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daily exercise. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
[Infographic] How to Boost the Effectiveness of Your Workouts
Looking to get more exercise out of your day, and make the most of your workouts?
This helpful infographic shares 5 simple tips for boosting the effectiveness of your workouts, and getting more results out of your daily exercise.
This helpful infographic shares 5 simple tips for boosting the effectiveness of your workouts, and getting more results out of your daily exercise.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
5 Great Fitness Tips for Busy Parents
Having kids often means a busy, hectic lifestyle. When your children are very small, it seems you are changing diapers every few minutes. When they are older, you are running them here and there, acting as their personal taxi service. At home and at work, children make for very little free time for parents.
Even so, you need to understand how important it is to stay physically active. The mental and physical rewards from regular exercise are many, and when you stay active you also set a healthy example for your children. Practice the following 5 fitness tips for busy parents, and you will always have time for health and wellness in your family.
1. Prioritize Physical Fitness
You must make exercise a priority, especially when you are busy all the time. As a parent, you are constantly "putting out fires" and dealing with problems that arise. That means that if you simply wait for spare time to appear, it may never happen. You have to prioritize being healthy, making it a part of your daily and weekly schedule.
2. When You Fail to Plan You Plan to Fail
If you have taken the mental step of prioritizing exercise in your busy life, good for you. Now you have to consciously make it a part of your family life. This includes planning physical activity for your kids as well. Don't just do this mentally. Write down a weekly and monthly exercise plan and stick to it.
3. Stop Thinking of Exercise Traditionally
Any moderately intense to intense physical activity is a form of exercise. You don't have to head to the gym or health club to be benefiting from exercise. Carrying around a small child all day is definitely a form of exercise, as is spending 30 or 40 minutes running around outside with your kids enjoying their favorite playtime activities! Gardening, cleaning, and even cooking can provide moderate exercise as well. Try to find ways to incorporate more physical activity into your daily routine, rather than trying to carve out an extra hour somewhere to devote to just working out.
4. Spread out Your Efforts
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You don't need to experience long, drawn-out exercise sessions. Many noted health authorities recommend 2.5 to 3.0 hours of moderately intense aerobic activity each week. The rewards of exercise are cumulative, meaning you can enjoy that exercise in 10 workout sessions that are 15 minutes long each, or 5 sessions which are 30 minutes in duration. Check this blog often for inspiration - we post great weekly workouts that are often less than 20 minutes long!
5. Get Your Kids Involved
Why not schedule exercise activities the whole family can enjoy together? This ensures you get the workout you need, your children develop healthy exercise habits, and you strengthen your family bond, all at the same time!
Check back Thursday for a quick, fun workout that you can do with your kids...
Even so, you need to understand how important it is to stay physically active. The mental and physical rewards from regular exercise are many, and when you stay active you also set a healthy example for your children. Practice the following 5 fitness tips for busy parents, and you will always have time for health and wellness in your family.
1. Prioritize Physical Fitness
You must make exercise a priority, especially when you are busy all the time. As a parent, you are constantly "putting out fires" and dealing with problems that arise. That means that if you simply wait for spare time to appear, it may never happen. You have to prioritize being healthy, making it a part of your daily and weekly schedule.
2. When You Fail to Plan You Plan to Fail
If you have taken the mental step of prioritizing exercise in your busy life, good for you. Now you have to consciously make it a part of your family life. This includes planning physical activity for your kids as well. Don't just do this mentally. Write down a weekly and monthly exercise plan and stick to it.
3. Stop Thinking of Exercise Traditionally
 |
| (Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.) |
4. Spread out Your Efforts
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You don't need to experience long, drawn-out exercise sessions. Many noted health authorities recommend 2.5 to 3.0 hours of moderately intense aerobic activity each week. The rewards of exercise are cumulative, meaning you can enjoy that exercise in 10 workout sessions that are 15 minutes long each, or 5 sessions which are 30 minutes in duration. Check this blog often for inspiration - we post great weekly workouts that are often less than 20 minutes long!
5. Get Your Kids Involved
Why not schedule exercise activities the whole family can enjoy together? This ensures you get the workout you need, your children develop healthy exercise habits, and you strengthen your family bond, all at the same time!
Check back Thursday for a quick, fun workout that you can do with your kids...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Functional Fitness: A Workout For People Who Don't Want To Work Out
If you're one of those people who feels too busy to find the time to work out, functional fitness could be the answer. Functional fitness incorporates exercise into daily activities, strengthening muscles needed to perform common tasks, and helping prevent injury.
With time at a premium, many Americans are turning to creative forms of exercise. In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the North American Spine Society, three out of four people said they used the stairs rather than the elevator at work, 58 percent said they started parking their cars far away in parking lots and almost half reported walking while on the phone.
At the same time, however, 46 percent of people described themselves as couch potatoes--a major contributing factor to being overweight. Many adults say they have put off or skipped working out in order to do other activities, such as watching television, sleeping in, doing household chores or working.
Approximately three in four adults say they would exercise more if they could fit it into their daily routines, however, and a majority of adults say they would exercise more often if they could do it at home. Among non-couch potatoes, 80 percent would like to get more exercise, but say they don't have the time.
Meanwhile, more than 4 million Americans suffer disc problems. One out of four Americans over 30 will have recurring back pain, and one in 14 will seek medical care for back or neck pain this year, totaling almost 14 million visits per year. Back pain is the second most common reason that people visit a physician. Back and neck pain result in more lost workdays than any other condition. Due to absenteeism, medical and other related expenses, the cost of back injuries exceeds $80 billion each year in the United States. Exercise is one of the best ways to avoid back problems.
That's why it's important to find time to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. In addition to things such as climbing stairs and parking farther away, there are a number of fun ways to make your daily tasks or even leisure time into opportunities for exercise:
1. Feet Alphabet. This exercise can be done anywhere you are sitting, except while driving. It should not be hard to find a place. Simply write the alphabet in the air with each of your feet and ankles. You can do the letters in capitals or small letters and, for that matter, in any language you would like. Doing this two or three times daily on each ankle will begin to strengthen the ankle and maintain or improve motion. Strong ankles can help avoid or prevent many different types of pain and dysfunction - from shin splits to knee and hip problems.
2. Doing the Dishes Neck Circles. This exercise is easily done while doing the always fun task of washing the dishes. As you are standing there at the sink, slowly rotate your neck in a clockwise position, trying to extend the tip of your head out as far as possible. After three or four rotations, repeat the exercise in a counter-clockwise position. Remember, these rotations should be done slowly and in a pain-free range of motion. Besides increasing the flexibility of the neck, these exercises can pass the time of doing dishes.
3. Overhead Laundry Toss. Put the laundry basket directly in front of you and have the washer or dryer directly behind you. Grab a piece or two of dirty clothes, reach over your head slowly and drop the laundry into the washer. Again, start with dry clothes, then progress to wet clothes from the washer into the dryer.
4. Remote Wrist Lifts. This can be done on any Sunday afternoon watching multiple football games. Simply take the remote control (use the biggest one you have from the pile of remotes) and, while sitting watching your favorite team or movie and with your arm pointing toward the TV, aim the remote at the ceiling, moving your wrist only. Hold it there for 10 seconds, then aim it at the floor, again only moving the wrist. Repeat this three to four times during every commercial. Be careful not to accidentally change the channel when doing this exercise or it may irritate people who are watching TV with you! :-)
These are just a few ideas from "The Couch Potato Workout: 101 Exercises You Can Do At Home!
" by Joel M. Press, M.D., president of the North American Spine Society and medical director of the Spine and Sports Institute at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "The Couch Potato Workout" describes numerous practical and functional exercises people can do to build strength, balance and flexibility as part of their normal daily routine.
More Couch Potato Workouts:
With time at a premium, many Americans are turning to creative forms of exercise. In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the North American Spine Society, three out of four people said they used the stairs rather than the elevator at work, 58 percent said they started parking their cars far away in parking lots and almost half reported walking while on the phone.
 |
| Watching TV. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Approximately three in four adults say they would exercise more if they could fit it into their daily routines, however, and a majority of adults say they would exercise more often if they could do it at home. Among non-couch potatoes, 80 percent would like to get more exercise, but say they don't have the time.
Meanwhile, more than 4 million Americans suffer disc problems. One out of four Americans over 30 will have recurring back pain, and one in 14 will seek medical care for back or neck pain this year, totaling almost 14 million visits per year. Back pain is the second most common reason that people visit a physician. Back and neck pain result in more lost workdays than any other condition. Due to absenteeism, medical and other related expenses, the cost of back injuries exceeds $80 billion each year in the United States. Exercise is one of the best ways to avoid back problems.
That's why it's important to find time to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. In addition to things such as climbing stairs and parking farther away, there are a number of fun ways to make your daily tasks or even leisure time into opportunities for exercise:
1. Feet Alphabet. This exercise can be done anywhere you are sitting, except while driving. It should not be hard to find a place. Simply write the alphabet in the air with each of your feet and ankles. You can do the letters in capitals or small letters and, for that matter, in any language you would like. Doing this two or three times daily on each ankle will begin to strengthen the ankle and maintain or improve motion. Strong ankles can help avoid or prevent many different types of pain and dysfunction - from shin splits to knee and hip problems.
2. Doing the Dishes Neck Circles. This exercise is easily done while doing the always fun task of washing the dishes. As you are standing there at the sink, slowly rotate your neck in a clockwise position, trying to extend the tip of your head out as far as possible. After three or four rotations, repeat the exercise in a counter-clockwise position. Remember, these rotations should be done slowly and in a pain-free range of motion. Besides increasing the flexibility of the neck, these exercises can pass the time of doing dishes.
3. Overhead Laundry Toss. Put the laundry basket directly in front of you and have the washer or dryer directly behind you. Grab a piece or two of dirty clothes, reach over your head slowly and drop the laundry into the washer. Again, start with dry clothes, then progress to wet clothes from the washer into the dryer.
4. Remote Wrist Lifts. This can be done on any Sunday afternoon watching multiple football games. Simply take the remote control (use the biggest one you have from the pile of remotes) and, while sitting watching your favorite team or movie and with your arm pointing toward the TV, aim the remote at the ceiling, moving your wrist only. Hold it there for 10 seconds, then aim it at the floor, again only moving the wrist. Repeat this three to four times during every commercial. Be careful not to accidentally change the channel when doing this exercise or it may irritate people who are watching TV with you! :-)
These are just a few ideas from "The Couch Potato Workout: 101 Exercises You Can Do At Home!
" by Joel M. Press, M.D., president of the North American Spine Society and medical director of the Spine and Sports Institute at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "The Couch Potato Workout" describes numerous practical and functional exercises people can do to build strength, balance and flexibility as part of their normal daily routine.More Couch Potato Workouts:
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