Healthclub-Free Exercise Options

Americans are an interesting breed. They will try any crazy diet that comes along, they spend hundreds of dollars on health club memberships and exercise machines, but they won’t give up their TV remotes and they’d rather die than make an extra trip up a flight of stairs. Does this make sense? Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, that is about where the consensus ends. The bookstores are full of books on diet and exercise, so I won’t go into how you should exercise. Just do it.

There is a wonderful book called Healthy Pleasures, written by Robert Ornstein, Ph.D. and David Sobel, M.D., which has a chapter titled, “You don’t have to kill yourself to save your life!” I love it. In it, they describe a man who takes thirty minutes to drive three miles to work, and then proceeds to drive around the block several times until he can find the closest parking spot, takes the elevator to his office where he sits all day at his desk, and then drives another thirty minutes across town to a health club to “work out” for thirty minutes on a stationary bike! The authors point out how much better off he would have been to ride his bike to work, which would have taken less then the thirty minutes it took to drive in heavy traffic, and after he’d ridden it back home at the end of the day, he would have had time to play with his children (also a form of exercise) as he would have saved the time it took to drive to the health club and work out.

The exercise experts like to tell you that you need to get your heart rate up to a certain level in order for it to do your heart any good. That may be true in some respects, but the truth is any exercise is good for your heart, just get out of your chair and start moving! The good news is that the more you make those extra trips up and down stairs, out to the mail box, down the hall to the next office, or where ever, the easier they get to make. Plan your time to allow time to walk to your destination if at all possible. Volunteer to be the one to run errands; you’ll also be the one to reap the benefits of the exercise it took to do them.

Do those household chores that you hate and count them as your exercise program. Vacuuming is work; so is taking out the garbage. Dusting involves a good deal of stretching up and bending down, count it as exercise. Gardening: weeding the garden, mowing the lawn (with a walk-along mower, please), trimming the hedges, all count as exercise. There is no end to ways you can exercise and accomplish something at the same time.

If you are overweight, put your weight to work for you---walk. It is work carrying that weight around. Even if you are not overweight, walk. It can provide exercise without wearing out your joints and it is good for your heart as well. It is the most often recommended form of exercise by doctors. It counts if it is short walks or long. If you need to stop and rest, fine, just remember to get back up and walk some more.
If you don’t feel like exercising, but feel you need to, try this. Tell yourself that you will exercise for 10 minutes and then if you still don’t feel like it, you can quit. Most of the time, by the time you’ve exercised for 10 minutes, you’ll feel like going on because your body produces endorphins, (you’ve all read about those “feel good” hormones that are produced when you exercise) which improves your mood and makes you feel more energetic. I’ve tried it, it works. However, if you really aren’t feeling well, you may be coming down with something and you should let your body rest and recover.

If you get bored easily, vary your exercise; make it accomplish something, but find a routine and stick with it. Don’t wait until you’ve developed a condition that is the results of no exercise, and have to fight your way back to good health, to get moving.



	Health Tips from Nurse Sue Reasons to Maintain a Healthy Body Weight Water, and the Basics of Healthy Eating Healthclub-Free Exercise Options Especially for Flu Season Rest, Sweet Rest “Good health isn’t cheap, but compared to poor health, it’s a bargain.” ~Sue

	Healthclub-Free Exercise Options Americans are an interesting breed. They will try any crazy diet that comes along, they spend hundreds of dollars on health club memberships and exercise machines, but they won’t give up their TV remotes and they’d rather die than make an extra trip up a flight of stairs. Does this make sense? Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, that is about where the consensus ends. The bookstores are full of books on diet and exercise, so I won’t go into how you should exercise. Just do it. There is a wonderful book called Healthy Pleasures, written by Robert Ornstein, Ph.D. and David Sobel, M.D., which has a chapter titled, “You don’t have to kill yourself to save your life!” I love it. In it, they describe a man who takes thirty minutes to drive three miles to work, and then proceeds to drive around the block several times until he can find the closest parking spot, takes the elevator to his office where he sits all day at his desk, and then drives another thirty minutes across town to a health club to “work out” for thirty minutes on a stationary bike! The authors point out how much better off he would have been to ride his bike to work, which would have taken less then the thirty minutes it took to drive in heavy traffic, and after he’d ridden it back home at the end of the day, he would have had time to play with his children (also a form of exercise) as he would have saved the time it took to drive to the health club and work out. The exercise experts like to tell you that you need to get your heart rate up to a certain level in order for it to do your heart any good. That may be true in some respects, but the truth is any exercise is good for your heart, just get out of your chair and start moving! The good news is that the more you make those extra trips up and down stairs, out to the mail box, down the hall to the next office, or where ever, the easier they get to make. Plan your time to allow time to walk to your destination if at all possible. Volunteer to be the one to run errands; you’ll also be the one to reap the benefits of the exercise it took to do them. Do those household chores that you hate and count them as your exercise program. Vacuuming is work; so is taking out the garbage. Dusting involves a good deal of stretching up and bending down, count it as exercise. Gardening: weeding the garden, mowing the lawn (with a walk-along mower, please), trimming the hedges, all count as exercise. There is no end to ways you can exercise and accomplish something at the same time. If you are overweight, put your weight to work for you---walk. It is work carrying that weight around. Even if you are not overweight, walk. It can provide exercise without wearing out your joints and it is good for your heart as well. It is the most often recommended form of exercise by doctors. It counts if it is short walks or long. If you need to stop and rest, fine, just remember to get back up and walk some more. If you don’t feel like exercising, but feel you need to, try this. Tell yourself that you will exercise for 10 minutes and then if you still don’t feel like it, you can quit. Most of the time, by the time you’ve exercised for 10 minutes, you’ll feel like going on because your body produces endorphins, (you’ve all read about those “feel good” hormones that are produced when you exercise) which improves your mood and makes you feel more energetic. I’ve tried it, it works. However, if you really aren’t feeling well, you may be coming down with something and you should let your body rest and recover. If you get bored easily, vary your exercise; make it accomplish something, but find a routine and stick with it. Don’t wait until you’ve developed a condition that is the results of no exercise, and have to fight your way back to good health, to get moving.