Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Physical exercise’

Exercise Boosts the Immune Response: Should You Exercise When You Are Sick?

Posted in Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 

Cover Your Mouth When Sneezing!

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

The cold and flu season seems to no longer be a season but a constant sharing of germs and sneezes in many of the corporate offices I visit. Aside from sleep and fluids some people swear that exercising helps keep them from getting many of these office bugs.  According to a recent press release from the American College of Sports Medicine, sometimes it’s better to rest when you are sick versus exercise. However, exercise does help boost your body’s immune response. So how do you know when to work out and when to stay in bed?

Read this excerpt from the ACSM press release:

ACSM Fellow David C. Nieman, Dr.P.H., says that moderate exercise (30 minutes a day, on most, if not all, days of the week) actually lowers the risk for respiratory infections.  Prolonged, intense exercise, on the other hand, can weaken the immune system and allow viruses to gain a foothold and spread.

“In general, if your symptoms are from the neck up, go ahead and take a walk,” said Dr. Nieman. “But if you have a fever or general aches and pains, rest up and let your body get over the illness.”

Read more from the press releases including Dr. Nieman’s  4 Tips on when to exercise and when to rest here.

And for a more detailed Fact Sheet on the relationship between safe exercise and illnesses download the ACSM fact sheet: “Exercise and the Common Cold,”   This fact sheet was written by Dr. Nieman.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Finding Work-Life Balance When You Have Small Children at Home

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , , on November 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

The Perdy Family take sa break from their biking adventure

I have a fair number of clients that have stressful jobs, long commutes and small children at home. It’s also a common scenario to see a client come in and say “I used to work out all the time and in the last year I haven’t been working out much.” Invariably I ask, do you have a one-year-old?” It’s not always the case, but often the answer is “Yes, how did you know?” The time of having a new baby int he family is an exciting and exhausting time. For a few months (to many months) this can mean sleep deprivation, more time needed at home to care for your child and of course the joys of seeing a new life, a new smile and bonding with your new son or daughter. But all this change can also bring a halt to mom and dad’s workout routines.

I am a big advocate of incorporating regular activity into our daily lives. But having a new baby or small children at home makes it difficult to workout like you did pre-children. That doesn’t mean you can’t work out at all. It just gives you an opportunity to try something new, think outside the box and modify your workout routine without taking too much time away from your family. One of the things I tell my parent clients is that working out and being fit is one of the best ways to role model healthy physical activity behavior to your children. And taking your kids along on your workout, while a bit tricky, can be a great way to spend time with your family without giving up time for your own health.

How to Incorporate more physical fitness into your life without sacrificing  family time.

• Used to going on long bike rides but can’t get away for long enough to get your rides in? Add a bike trainer to your own bike or buy a spinning type bike and put it in your basement, garage, workout room, where ever it is out-of-the-way but easily accessible for riding. If you need motivation to keep you from being bored, put the bike in front of a TV and use the SpinRider, an indoor cycling DVD that simulates an outdoor bike ride in different locales. Each DVD includes 3 bike rides filmed from the rider’s point of view. The videos take you to the countryside, city streets, beaches, and back alleys, while the onscreen subtitles and bonus features inform you about the destination’s history, people and activities. Spinrider releases a new 3 ride DVD every September, December, and February. Individual DVD’s are $19.95. Subscribe for 3 DVDs $44.95. Order here.

• Are your children old enough to be bundled up and go outdoors but too small to go on long walks? Pack them up in a stroller or bike carrier and either hike with them or bike with them.

• If you kids are old enough to bike but not old enough to keep up with you on your bike, let them cycle while you run or roller blade with them.

• Make family fitness a regular activity. Each weekend plan to explore a new forest preserve, a new lake, river or scenic outdoor setting. The Chicago area is chock full of small and large forest preserves. And children that experience and interact with nature will be more likely to be comfortable experiencing and protecting nature as adults. Check out  the Little Red School House for your children to explore Chicago area wildlife and go for a short hike together before the winter covers the woods with a blanket of snow!

• If you absolutely must leave your family to get in a workout, obviously, you want to minimize your time away. So if you join a gym, find one close to home, or put on your jogging shoes and go for a run. Adding a small workout room to your basement or spare room also means less travel time and less time away from the family. AND you kids get to see you role modeling good fitness behaviors. (Versus role modeling sitting in front of the TV eating cookies!)

• If you children are a bit older (say 7 or 12 years old), you can also have them join you in using Wii Fit or following along on beginner’s yoga videos.

• As your children hit the teenage years, it’s more likely that mom and dad are chaffering the kids around to their sports and athletic events more so than joining in on your children’s activities. But that doesn’t mean you need to go your separate ways when it come s to working out. If your children are old enough to do resistance training, you can work out together! If your son or daughter is a good swimmer, hockey player, roller blader or snow boarder, you can plan day trips or weekend trips to areas where the whole family can enjoy your favorite sports together.

• Take a dance class with your kids. Hip Hop is an easy dance to learn and a great aerobic workout. I’ve taken Hip Hop classes at the Old Town School of Folk and enjoyed every sweaty minute of it!

• If you have Dance Dance Revolution, make a game out of  playing it with your kids a few times a week.

• In the winter, go ice skating or sledding with your kids.

• Ask your kids what they want to do to have family fitness time each week. They may come up with answers that you all will love and that you might never have thought of without them!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

Where to Buy an Inexpensive Free Weight Set in Chicago

Posted in Fitness, tagged , , , , , on October 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

I belong to a gym, but with work and graduate school, adding an additional 30 minutes of travel time to my already packed schedule is tough for workouts. And I tend to work out more at home in the winter. We have already have yoga equipment, Wii Fit and some dumbbells that I already use, as well as a wall lined with mirrors to assess form for yoga and resistance training in my small Chicago apartment. Now, as the fall weather signals the start of colder temperatures, shorter days (at least less sun) and soon-to-be snow-covered streets, I decided it was time to do a scouting trip for my readers to see where would be the best place for an inexpensive free weight set in Chicago.

Our first stop was at a higher end home gym equipment store in a strip mall on Elston Avenue. The store showcased the Powerblock dumbbells and we wanted to see how these worked from an “expert” perspective. The lone salesman was more than happy to tell us all about the dumbbells and even demonstrated their use for us. I found them extremely cumbersome and uncomfortable. He told me that I would “get used to using them.” (I can tell you know, I would never use them. And if I did use them I’d probably injure my wrist because of the cumbersome construction.) He also told us another great benefit of the Powerblock dumbbells: they sell well on Craigslist.  He discouraged us from using free weight dumbbells because they were so much more expensive (at least in his store) and took up a lot of space. Despite the salesman’s high pressure sales tactics (“I can’t see any reason why you WOULDN’T buy these today?!”) and high prices, we were able to get out of his store without buying an expensive set of dumbbells that we would never use and would need to sell on Craiglist!

Our next stop was Play it Again Sports, on Ashland near Irving Park Road. I haven’t been to this location before and it was overwhelming!  From the outside it doesn’t look like a very big store, but inside it was a jam-packed sporting goods emporium!  Hundreds of bicycles, a skateboarding section, hockey skates, sleds, baseball equipment, free weights, some used weight benches, and much much more. The sales people were mercifully low maintenance. Aside from asking us if we needed help, they pretty much left us alone. But the selection of free weight equipment was sparse and unorganized and we didn’t see anything we really wanted. I will be back for other sporting equipment though now that I see how well stocked this store is!

Lastly we went to our normal one-stop-sports store: Sports Authority. I know Sports Authority is not a high-end store. It doesn’t have ALL the latest and greatest equipment. But what it does have is EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED at HALF the price of the high-end store. Our salesman, Rolando Batchelor, was helpful without being obnoxious. He showed us the different equipment they had and explained how each type of  free weight set was different. Sports Authority had a surprisingly good range of free weight equipment. And most of it was on sale! We got an adjustable, 7-position weight bench (that collapses for storage) for about $74 (versus a similar bench for $229 at the high-end store). We selected a plate rack to store our free weight plates in our apartment (approx $50). And we bought a 100-pound free weight set with bar bell and two dumbbells which Rolando helped us get out to the car ($90 on sale from about $120)). As a child my father used to use a plated set of weights and I prefer the plates set to other types of dumbbells because then not only can I use the set, but my man can use them (he does lift a bit more than I can!) and I can also use them for clients on occasion. And surprisingly (maybe not so surprisingly) the entire weight set from Sports Authority, including plate stand, weight bench AND 100 pound dumbbells set, was less expensive than the weight bench at the high-end store.

If you have room and money to buy an expensive weight set or Body-Solid Home Gym, hats off to you! But for people living in Chicago with limited funds, small living quarters and a need for an efficient, easy to store and use set of free weights, my money is with Sports Authority.

And to be clear. I am not being paid by Sports Authority, nor do I get any special deals for this post. I simply like the store, and encourage people to go where they can get the best deals and value for your hard-earned dollars!

P.S. Sports Authority has great deals on clothing too!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

What’s the Best Way to Lose Excess Fat and Keep It Off?

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, Nutrition, tagged , , , , on October 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

The answer: Change your life!  What do I mean by that? Change the way you relate to food and exercise.

 

Healthy people exercising

Today I was reading this article on Yahoo Health about women that lose a significant amount of fat and transformed into healthier leaner people. And they kept the fat off over a period of years. If you read through their stories you will find a common theme: They switched from eating processed foods to “clean” foods like salads, brown rice, fish, vegetables. And they added regular exercise to their daily routines. They didn’t become professional bodybuilders, they did not subsist on a peanut and a celery stalk a day. They just eat healthier food in smaller more frequent portions. And they added activity to their daily lives One woman follows the simple guidelines of the ACSM: She added 30-60 min of cardio or strength training each day. Another woman said she makes sure she works out even on busy days at least 15 minutes.

 

If you read fitness magazines, blogs or know anything about fat loss and physical fitness, this story won’t be a big surprise to you. I think it’s important to remind ourselves that there are no quick fixes for fitness. But is losing fat, getting in shape and then STAYING in shape so easy? For most people, it’s not. It takes a few key qualities:

1. Perseverance-We don’t skip brushing our teeth every day to catch up on weekends and brush for 2 hours. Why would working out for 2 hours once a week be better than working out for 20-30 minutes 5 days a week? It isn’t. Our bodies work best in increments. We eat several times during the day, we sleep each night. We wash up each day (hopefully). Our 2010 lifestyles may make it tough to fit in movement when most people work in offices or in jobs that involved sitting for hours on end.  Adding in movement a little bit each day is easier than trying to pack in a mega workout once in a while. It takes perseverance (to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement). Taking stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther away from the store, walking when you can versus driving. Working out while spending time with your family and children also makes it easier to incorporate daily activity into your routine.  What’s important is that you add some exercise activity each day or at least 5 days a week. Don’t have time to go to a gym? It’s easy to make a home gym or workout to videos, Wii Fit or other cardio program. Whether you run swim, hike, bike or do yoga, it’s important is that you keep it up on a regular basis.

2. Discipline as in Self discipline-Fast food, junk food and high calorie, high fat food are all around us. It’s tough to get out of bed and go for a run or come home from a long day and fit in that 30 minutes of cardio or strength training. Making it a regular nonnegotiable part of your routine can help. And when you feel the urge to overeat or skip your daily workout, it takes a bit of self-discipline to pass up those french fries or push yourself to work out even when you’d rather sleep! But the rewards are feeling better, being healthier, having a clearer mind, being less stressed out and of course, being fit!

3. Prioritization-like that word? I did NOT make it up. It means making the most of your time and resources. And in this case, I say it means making sure that fitness and healthy eating are a priority. I use this analogy. If your child (if you don’t have a child, think about your niece, nephew or another child you care about) needed to eat, rest or get some exercise, would you let other priorities get in the way of taking care of the child?  (Hopefully not!) Yet adults often neglect our own needs for health and fitness because “we are too tired, too busy or too unmotivated.” Yet if we have to walk the dog or feed a child healthy food, somehow we find the inner strength, time and resources. So it’s not a matter of not having time or energy to take care of ourselves. It’s really about priorities. Learn to make your own health and wellness a priority. It benefits you and it also provides a good role model for children in your life!

4.  Focus (directed attention, concentration)-Focusing on how we look is rarely motivating. For some, working out to get the body they want or fit into a particular outfit may help motivate them to work out and eat right. It doesn’t work for me and many of my clients though. For me, I have to focus on how I feel. I feel better when I work out and eat right. How I look may change for the better but it’s not my  main focus. My focus is in feeling good, having more energy. sleeping well, not having stomach aches or feeling sluggish. No matter what your prime motivator/s is/are, use them to give you strength when you need a push to work out or eat right!

5. Fun-Wellness needs to be fun to be sustainable.  If you hate running, how motivated will you be to get up and run in the morning? But if tennis is fun for you, you will be more likely to play tennis than run. Wii Fit tries to make exercise fun for adults and children by integrating games in with the movement exercises. healthy food doesn’t have to be drab and boring. take a cooking class that specializes in healthy eating: Indian food, Middle Eastern Food , Chinese Stir Fry and even some Italian dishes can be low-fat and healthy.  Learn to add healthy spice to your food and “healthy” becomes fun and tasty! Make learning new fitness routines fun by trying them out with family and friends.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

What the U.S. Fitness Industry Can Learn From the French

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, tagged , , on September 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Personal trainer showing a client how to exerc...
A Non-French gym. Image via Wikipedia

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

This morning I was reading an article from Reuters about how the French culture is not adopting the “gym culture” as readily as people in the U.S., Spain and the United Kingdom. One of the reasons given for the French reluctance to leave the outdoors and go workout in a gym? The tendency of the French to play football, tennis and go cycling.

Now the gym industry is trying to determine the best ways to get people in France off their football fields, tennis courts and off their bikes so they can go work out in a gym. I find this really interesting because here in the U.S., people are more likely to go work out in a gym, compartmentalizing exercise into a 30-minute or 1 hour segment of their week. While in France, people tend to walk daily, eat smaller portions and incorporate exercise into their daily routine.  In the U.S., where obesity is a huge concern, we have created a sedentary lifestyle (suburbs, car based cities, supersized portions and a fast food mentality). Meals in France are more leisurely, people often shop each day for the evening meal. Meals are more often lingered over, a time for socializing and conversation, not wolfing down food while sitting in front of the television (which, I admit I’ve been guilty of at times.).

So, what’s wrong with this picture? For one thing, going to the gym when you have no other alternative for exercise is better than not doing anything. I am not anti-gym. In the U.S. our gyms and personal trainers have come a long way to helping more people get fit and adopt a healthier lifestyle. But to expect a culture to adopt a less healthy lifestyle (by giving up a natural incorporation of exercise and healthy portion size) to help build more gyms in France seems counterproductive.

If the gym industry could embrace France’s culture instead of the other way around, we might have a healthy U.S. gym culture too. For example, creating more outdoor running areas and cycling areas, making areas of the city car free so that only bicycles could ride in that area. Creating more opportunities for exercise in suburbs with more walkable downtown areas. And for those that want to eat more like the French, we already have a great cookbook: The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook! Only $16.50 at Amazon.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

The Future of Work-Exercising While Generating Energy?

Posted in Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , on September 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Walkstation from Steelcase

What if you could work out while you worked? What if by working out you could generate enough electricity to power your own computer and the computer of the coworker next to you. And what if you could do this without breaking a sweat?

I had this conversation with a client recently. We wondered how long it would take before movement and energy generation are combined to give workers  the opportunity to stay healthy and fit, reduce energy dependence on renewable resources and  transform the workplace.

The technology for such a workplace exists albeit in its infancy. We wrote about the Human Dynamo in this post and about the Walkstation in this post. Since humans can walk for long periods of time without much stress or injury and since research points to the need for human beings to move more than they do with sedentary desk jobs, it makes sense doesn’t it.

My client suggested a world in which we all have renewable battery packs that we can recharge simply by exercising. That way you could plug your renewable battery pack into just about any electronic device including your workplace computer and Walkstation/Human Dynamo bike.

Maybe in this scenario, workers  that exercise a great deal may get credits toward lower health insurance premiums.   Perhaps workers generate credits in their youth that store for when they are  and less able to move. But then again, walking on treadmill is fairly doable (even at low speeds) for most people. People with problems walking or exercising could earn energy credits in other ways.

I’m interested to hear what my readers think. What other changes do you see in the workplace of the future?

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

No Time to Exercise? Put Some Labor in Your Life!

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , on June 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

There is no case of my sore feet that Sarah ca...
Image by colorblindPICASO via Flickr

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

The internet is full of great exercise videos. The news publishes reports daily about the benefits of exercise. Yet I hear the same refrain from people all the time: I don’t have time to exercise. I have great sympathy for those with no time to workout. And I offer you this: maybe it’s not that you don’t have time. Maybe it’s more a question of changing our thinking about exercise rather than finding time to exercise.

In the U.S., we tend to compartmentalize exercise. We think we can only exercise if we go to special places and wear special clothes. We think “we have to sweat to be doing any good.” But these are all myths.

Exercise myths include:

• Exercise is something we only do at the gym.

• Exercise is something you need a personal trainer to do.

• Exercise requires long hours of sweat and exertion to be effective.

• Exercise is something we have to set aside large chunks of time to accomplish.

These belief’s only keep us from doing what we need to do. Before The Industrial Revolution, people got “exercise” doing daily chores and work. Farmers and farm hands got “exercise” toiling in the fields, herding cattle, riding horses around the ranch, milking cows, etc. Before “labor-saving devices” like dishwashers, washers and dryers and the infamous automobile, people got “exercise” every day without needing gyms or “workouts.” Of course, people didn’t live as long. 40-45  was the average life expectancy. But since then we’ve made great progress in modern medicine, diet and education. People don’t HAVE to labor to earn a living. And labor-oriented jobs have been leaving the U.S. for years. So how do we get our daily exercise dose?

Flash forward to the typical American life in 2010. Male or female, the typical American works 50-60 hours, drives or takes a train or bus to work, averaging 1 hour commute each way. With a few small children at home, by the time mom or dad gets done helping kids with homework, preparing dinner, and putting the kids to bed, the day is done and it’s time for a little TV time. There is little time to “work out.”

So, think about putting a little labor back into your life. You don’t have to go to the gym to ‘work out.” If you can find the time and need the focus of the gym to squeeze in some cardio or strength training, go for it. But if going to the gym means taking precious time away from the family, incorporate your kids into your workout. use yoga tapes or the Wii Fit at home. Make it a family fun time.

Ways to Put a Little “Labor” Back  Into Your Life

• If you normally try to park as close as possible to the store or work, park  farther away. The extra walk will do you good!

• Hang your laundry on a clothesline outdoors to dry (also saves energy and money).

• Plant a garden and spend time weeding, watering and enjoying your garden a few minutes every day.

• If you take public trans, get of or on the bus/train/etc. a few blocks earlier.

• At work, do some mid-day squats at your desk. Simply stand up then start to sit down. But don’t let yourself sit. As you feel the chair under your posterior, slowly stand back up again. Then “sit” again, without resting on the chair. Lather, Rinse and repeat 10 times.

• Take a walk around the block after dinner. Even a 15-min walk helps you feel better, teaches your kids the benefits of exercise and allows you to spend quality time with your family.

• Whenever possible, at work, take the stairs. If you can, take two 10 minute breaks each day to walk up and down a few flights of stairs. Don’t run, take your time so you don’t get sweaty! Your form is more important than trying to race up the stairs.

• In parking garages, take the stairs, too, versus the elevator.

• If you live in a home with stairs and you are doing housework, putting away laundry, etc., make more trips up and down the stairs.

• If you don’t have kids, get a dog. You are more likely to make walking the dog part of your daily routine than if you were to take yourself for a daily walk!

• If you are single and live alone, get to know your neighbors. Help out the sick and elderly by volunteering to do their chores. It will give you exercise and make you feel good about yourself!

• Buy a set of dumbbells (even Target sells them!) and do basic resistance training at home in front of the television. (Versus sitting on the coach with a bag of chips!)

• Take your kids to a water park, a forest preserve or a park on the weekends. Climb the stairs of a few slides with your kids. At a forest preserve or park, paddle boat or canoe with them. Take nature walks.

• Ride your bike to work or around the neighborhood after work, before dinner.

Related articles:

How to Get a total Body Workout without going to the gym here.

Reasons why you don’t exercise here.

The best exercises for lazy people here.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Read Full Post »

How Long Will You Live? Find Out With the Life Expectency Calculator

Posted in Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

I found such a cool site I have to share it with you! You notice that I post a lot about nutrition fitness and overall wellness to help you learn how to better take care of yourself. Well, what’s the point of all that anyway–good nutrition, fitness and health? Trust me it’s not to save the government and my insurance company money (although it will). Maintaining good health contributes to:

• a better quality of life

• less dis-ease and hospital stays

• the ability to be more active and productive (sure, some sick people work but not as efficiently)

• a longer life

By now you are likely saying, OK, Sue get on with it, what’s this cool site already? It’s called Living to 100.com. And it provides you with a really nifty life expectancy calculator. What’s so cool about it? Well, for starters, I think entering in some data and finding out your projected life expectancy is pretty cool. Even better, once you calculated your projected age, the feedback section goes through each lifestyle area and explains what you are doing well and where you need to improve.
In one test you can easily see how all the fitness and nutrition and other wellness choices you make impacts your life expectancy. It’s a great way to see how simple changes in your daily life can impact your health and longevity. And the feedback section provides links to other links about specific elements of your health like calcium supplementation, quitting smoking and exercise info.

Dr. Perls Creator of the Life Expectancy Calculator

I took the test and it said I will live to be 96 if I continue to maintain all my healthy lifestyle habits. Of course it also told me I can add a few years to my life by working less, exercising more and taking an aspirin a day. Should I go for 100? Looks like I better do a better job of financial planning for my later years  since I may live quite a long timer!

Take the test yourself and see what it tells you about your lifestyle choices and where you can improve to increase your projected longevity. Use the calculator here.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Read Full Post »

Just 5 Minutes a Day in Nature Improves Mood and Mental Health

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, Nature and Stress, Stress Management, tagged , , , , , on May 2, 2010| 1 Comment »

walk_in_park
Image by rosemaryann11 via Flickr

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

I wonder sometimes if my readers get sick of me writing about exercising in nature! Some of my friends say they hate bugs and humidity. Some people may not have much experience in nature (especially if they grow up in an urban environment) and may be hesitant to try hiking or outdoor fitness routines. I was fortunate to have a father that was a nature lover. We spent every summer vacation camping, usually in Wisconsin. And many weekends were spent in nearby forest preserves or parks. In each home we lived in we had an outdoor garden.  My Dad introduced us to canoeing, pontoon boating, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, hiking, bicycling, paddle boating, berry picking,  swimming in the Great Lakes and smaller lakes,  and watching ducks fly south from Horicon Marsh. He was also a former gymnist and bodybuilder and taught us how to lift weights and run on treadmills in the winter. We weren’t “rich” monetarily, but we were rich in family time, the ability to spend time in nature and in fresh air, and good cardiovascular workouts!

As an adult I’ve enjoyed time spent in the gym, but I tend to gravitate towards nature. Now years later, more and more more research is showing that my natural inclination and my father’s tendency to get us outdoors is actually better for your health. Read the excerpt below from the University of Essex about a study  that shows even a 5 minute walk or time spent gardening can have immediate positive effects on your health. That’s right bug haters–it only takes 5 minutes to have a benefit! So grab the Off or Citronella and get outside!

A Walk A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Just a small ‘dose’ of nature every day will benefit people’s mood, self-esteem and mental health, a new study by the University of Essex has shown. Surprisingly the research found that just five minutes of green exercise produced the largest positive effect.

Previous studies by the researchers had confirmed the links between nature, exercise in green environments, and health benefits. But this study is the first to quantify the health benefits in terms of the best ‘dose’ of nature.

The research by Dr Jo Barton and Professor Jules Pretty is published online (and in print on 15 May) in the American journal, Environmental Science and Technology.

Their analysis of 1,252 people (of different ages, gender and mental health status) drawn from ten existing studies in the UK, showed that activity in the presence of nature (green exercise) led to mental and physical health improvements. The activities analysed were walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming.

‘For the first time in the scientific literature, we have been able to show dose-response relationships for the positive effects of nature on human mental health’, said Professor Pretty. The researchers concluded that green exercise should be developed for therapy purposes (green care), that planners and architects should improve access to green space (green design), and that children’s learning should include working in outdoor settings (green education).

‘A walk a day should help to keep the doctor away – and help to save the country money,’ said Dr Barton. ‘There is a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to ‘self-medicate’ more with green exercise.’
Some of the substantial mental health challenges facing society and physical challenges arising from modern diets and sedentary lifestyles (such as the alarming growth in obesity) could be addressed by increased forms of activity in natural places, the authors argue.

All natural environments were beneficial (including urban green); although the presence of water generated greater effects. A blue and green environment seems even better for health, the authors stated.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Read Full Post »

Getting Fit for the Over 40 Crowd

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , on March 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Biking is A Great Way to Exercise

Our bodies change over time. As we age we tend to lose bone and muscle mass. However, that’s no reason to avoid fitness! In fact, in the U.S., active people now tend to maintain their fitness well into their senior years.

Now there is a blog that is devoted to “Fitness Over 40.” and it’s aptly named over40fitnessguide.

Check out some of the recent posts from this blog:

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »