Friedrich Nietzsche

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Life has really changed at my house.  It seems like yesterday I was bundling up to walk Bandy in the frigid darkness and writing about winter walking.  Instead, summer came early at my house.  We’ve had temperatures in the 80’s for the past couple of weeks.  I’m looking forward to the return of normal temperatures in the 70’s for the next few days.  And, unlike last year, it has been sunny and dry. 

We’ve had the perfect weather to tackle outside projects around the house and yard and I’ve been working like crazy.  So far this year I have weeded all the flower beds and painted 2 sides of my foundation.  (I’m on the 20 year plan with this foundation painting.  I figure if my house could go the first 50 years with a bare foundation then I didn’t have to be in too much of a hurry.  I did the first side about 11 years ago.  Now, I only have the back side of the house to go.  Maybe if this weather holds out I can get that done before the mosquitoes invade my yard.  If not, I have about 8 years to meet my personal deadline J). 

I would guess in the last 3 weeks I have spent about 20 hours bending over, bending down, pulling, twisting, bending up, bending down, and pushing.  It was tricky trying to paint from the ground up while standing in a bed of irises about to bloom.  I felt like I was playing twister!

And you know what?  I’ve not had one sore muscle…not in my legs or arms or back or neck.  I found this a little curious because I remember last year once the rain stopped and I could get out in the garden, I was uncomfortable pulling weeds and digging and planting.  I remember my knees hurting and my back aching.  I had to lean my knees on a padded pillowy thing for goodness sake.  I remember thinking if this is how I feel at 42 how will I ever garden when I’m 50 or 60.  

I’ve spent some time thinking these past few weeks as to why I haven’t had any discomfort or pain this year.  There has to be a reason, right? 

I’ve come up with two possibilities…qigong and walking.  

Qigong is “a form of traditional Chinese mind/body exercise and meditation that uses slow and precise body movements with controlled breathing and mental focusing to improve balance, flexibility, muscle strength and overall health.”  

As you may know from reading Is Walking Enough (Part 2), I’ve been doing a short qigong routine for about 9 months now.  It took me a few weeks to get the hang of it and remember the sequence without referring to the pictures.  This qigong sequence of 6 movements seems to stretch most, if not all, of the major muscle groups.  I do these stretches every morning.  It feels great and it doesn’t take a lot of time to complete – about 12 minutes.  Doing these stretches every day has increased my normal range of motion and has increased my overall flexibility.  It is nothing now to bend down and reach and stretch because my body has been training to do this daily through qigong!  

I also think that walking soon after finishing these tasks helped my body recover quickly.  Like taking a hot shower after exerting yourself, I think that walking soon after my tasks gave my allowed my body to move and stretch and stop the soreness or stiffness that might have occurred had I just sat down and watched TV after I finished working.

Have you been working hard in the yard or house, playing tennis, running or riding your bike after a winter of little activity?  Are you calling on your body to move more than normal now that the weather begs for outdoor activities?  Have you noticed stiffness or soreness and wish you had a way to minimize these side effects of the weekend warrior?  If you want to prevent post-warrior pain and soreness, give qigong and walking a chance…a hot shower won’t hurt either.

What home projects or fitness activities have you been working on or have planned for the Spring?  Do you ever feel sore or pain from your work or fun?  Let us read all about it in the comments.

One of my co-workers was talking about her grandma ‘Mimi’ recently.  Ms. Mimi lived to be 104 years old.  She never exercised a day in her life.  Instead, she never stopped moving.  She was always ‘doing’ and rarely wanted to sit down to take a rest. 

Today our ‘advanced’ society makes it very easy to develop lazy habits.  Do you sit most of your day in an office job?  Do you ride to work in a car or public transportation?  Do you mow your own lawn?  Do you clean the gutters, wash the windows, iron the clothes, or prepare three meals from scratch?  See where I’m going here?  Many of the activities our grandparents performed as their way of life aren’t done anymore.  We outsource our chores, a meal goes from bag or box to plate in 5 minutes and we surf through hundreds of channels with a click of a finger.  Today’s way of life allows us to move less and less during our days if that is what we choose to do.

But there is a big downside to all of our conveniences…we burn less calories every day and, over time, we gain weight.  One way to stop this process is to get moving!  Even if you don’t like to exercise you can make a habit of moving more during your day.  

Back in 2005 we heard about the ‘losing weight through fidgeting’ study conducted by researcher Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic.  The study compared two groups of ‘couch potatoes’ that included a lean group and an obese group.  The participants were considered couch potatoes if they didn’t exercise.  The study monitored the daily movements of the two groups and determined that the lean couch potatoes moved at least 2 hours more throughout their day.  During the 2 hours of extra movement, the lean couch potatoes burned 350 calories more, per day, than the obese couch potatoes.  These extra movements can add up to10 to 30 pounds a year.  After the study, Dr. Levine stated that “the amount of this low-grade activity is so substantial that it could, in and of itself, account for obesity quite easily.” 

What this means for you is that increasing your activity level can help you fight weight gain even if you don’t formally exercise.  Think back to your grandparents again (or great-grandparents if you’re really young).  It’s unlikely that your grandpa went to the gym to workout or that your grandma headed to a daily jazzercise class.  Instead they probably took care of their home and yard by doing all the chores their self.  And because they had fewer conveniences back then, it took a lot more effort and time to wash clothes, cook or mow the lawn (push mowers!) then it does today. 

We have to compensate for the fact that we sit for a huge amount of our day as we commute to work, sit at a desk at work, and frequently come home to a sofa or another desk.  If we don’t increase our activity levels during the parts of our day we can control, then we will gain weight. 

So how can you increase the activity in your day?  There are endless ways but here are some to consider:

• Walk to your mailbox instead of driving up to the box.
• Park as far away as you can from your job, store, etc.
• Pull the batteries out of the remote control.  You will have to get up to change the channel
• Mow your own lawn
• Cook from scratch
• March in place or walk around when you brush your teeth
• Spend part of your lunch break walking and take walk breaks during the day even if you are only taking the long way to the copy machine and bath room
• Walk while your children are at ball practice or dance lessons
• Spend 15 – 30 minutes each night cleaning your house from top to bottom (windows, baseboards, closets…everything).  Make a checklist for each room in the house with activities you can complete in your 15 – 30 minute timeframe
• Plant a flower, herb and/or vegetable garden
• Spend 15 minutes every night decluttering your house
• Do something active with your children every day like throwing a football or frisbee, playing tennis, flying a kite, playing hopscotch or jump rope, blowing bubbles
• Walk around your yard or neighborhood every morning or evening 

Your goal is to add movement throughout your day, every day.  Try this.

Post a list at work of all the ways you can increase your activity level:

• Stand up and move when talking on the phone
• Walk around the floor or office frequently during the day
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Park in the ‘far away’ spots
• Walk during part of your lunch or other breaks

Try to do everything on your list everyday.

Try this.  Make a list every day before you leave work of the activities you want to accomplish when you get home, such as:

• Walk the dog
• Play with kids outside 15 minutes
• Wash, fold and put away a load of laundry
• 15 minutes decluttering kitchen junk drawer

These tasks will keep you up and moving and will burn many more calories than sinking into the comfy sofa at the end of your day.  Making a list keeps you on track and helps you stay focused.

In today’s world we are moving far less than the generations that came before us.  Today there is an easy way to do every chore.  The easiest way of all is to outsource the daily chores that we used to do.  While it may make our lives easier, the easy way out results in our moving less and less and this can lead to weight gain for us all.  Take a moment today to think how you can live a more active life, burn a few more calories each day, and maybe lose a few pounds in the process.

Do you think you have a more active life than your grandparents?  Do you exercise most days?  If not, do you try to add extra movement to your days?  I’d love to hear more in the Comments.

For more ideas to increase your daily activity level, read this article about the ‘fidgeting’ study which includes a sample active day.

We’ve heard it all before…we should exercise every day.  We’ve heard the studies that say regular exercise will reduce our risk for cancer, diabetes, obesity, depression, osteoporosis, etc.  No matter how much we want to exercise, we never follow through with the promises we make to ourselves to hit the gym or to make it to a yoga class.  Or maybe we do make it to a class or go for a jog but then we just can’t seem to stick with it – we can’t get into an exercise groove.  Our job, children, family and friends all need our attention, our money and/or our time.  We still think about exercise…mainly that we are not exercising…and this makes us feel guilty and stressed.  Our thoughts of all the exercise we should be doing, but aren’t, become overwhelming and we give up – sometimes before we start.  Is the thought of getting fit stressing you out and pushing you to inaction? 

But hold on a minute.  Rome, as they say, wasn’t built in a day.  And you don’t have to overwhelm yourself with all that you think you should be doing.  Instead, plan out what you can do in 15 minutes a day.  You can gain important health benefits in just 15 minutes of exercise each day.  Each time you complete a 15 minute session it will add up until you have hours of fitness under your belt.  Doing something is always better than doing nothing.  Your 15 minutes of something will add up to 1 hour and 45 minutes of fitness each week or 4.5 hours of fitness each month.  That’s pretty impressive if you are doing less than that now.

So what could you do during your 15 minutes of fitness?  Consider alternating each day between an aerobic session and a strength training session. 

Week 1 walk for 15 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.  

Week 2 complete a strength training session on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

Don’t think for a second that you need to have a gym membership or own an expensive piece of equipment for this 15 minute fitness program.  One of the best aerobic activities you can do for your self is to walk.  Walking 15 minutes 3-4 times each week will provide you with a number of health benefits.  Check out One Activity that Can Change Your Life for more information about the vast health benefits of walking. 

It is possible to create a strength training program at home with no equipment.  Using your own body weight as resistance you can do push-ups, sit-ups, squats, core exercises, dips, etc.  Use your 15 minutes of strength training to complete some light stretches, 10 push-ups, 25 sit-ups, 20 squats and 6 dips.  In one month, this will add up to 150 push-ups, 375 sit-ups, 300 squats and 90 dips each month.  See how these small incremental efforts add up to big time numbers?  Check out this previous post on weight training if you want to incorporate free-weights or you are looking for some other strength training exercises.

No matter what your situation, a fitness program is within your reach.  Don’t become paralyzed by unrealistic expectations.  Just commit to 15 minutes a day and alternate between an aerobic program and a strength training program to start your fitness program.  The most important thing you can do for your health today is to commit to a daily routine that you complete everyday no matter what.  A 15 minute commitment is do-able for everyone.  No excuses.  Make your 15 minute fitness program a habit and you will reap the health benefits guaranteed.

Do you ever become overwhelmed with your fitness goals?  Have you ever stopped exercising because you felt like what you were doing didn’t make a difference?  Let me know in the comments.  Thanks.

 Next Post:  Do You Have Lazy Habits?

Winter is finally loosening its noose on the weather at my house.  I’ve actually gotten to walk twice in shorts during the last 10 days.  Nothing feels better than bare legs after a long winter.  It’s so exciting to think of all the walks ahead of me that I won’t need a coat, gloves, scarf and a hat.  I love spring and I love walking in spring.  Here’s why:

• I know that even if the weather isn’t perfect today, a sunny and warm day is never far away like it was in January
• I love to look at the wild flowers and flowering trees
• I love to hear the birds sing their hearts out
• I love to watch the new tree buds slowly unfurl into bright green leaves
• I love to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin
• I love the minimalist walking wardrobe of warmer weather
• I love to people and dog watch while I am walking at the park
• I love to feel the warm breeze on my skin
• I love to walk the dog in the light of day after work instead of in the cold and dark of winter
• I love that I am always motivated to walk outside on a beautiful Spring day

If the spring weather is motivating you to take a walk don’t forget to put on sunscreen and bring extra water for you and any children or dogs that are walking with you.  It’s also a good idea to keep an umbrella handy in case of unexpected spring showers.  Also, don’t put the gloves and hat away just yet.  Keep some cold weather wear in the car or work so you won’t skip a walk if the weather turns blustery.  Last, check out your local and state park spring activities calendars which will be filling up with nature hikes, wildflower hikes and educational activities for you and your children.

What do you love about spring walking? Will you be walking more frequently or taking longer walks now that we have longer daylight hours?  Has spring come to your house yet? 

Next Post:  Is Trying to Get Fit Stressing You Out?

Back in February, we looked at whether a walking routine would meet the guidelines for moderate level intensity exercise set by the CDC’s 2008 Physical Guidelines for Americans.  The studies we looked at reported that walking is considered a moderate level intensity exercise but only if you walk as fast as a 15 minute mile.  Other studies suggest that walking is beneficial even if you walk slower but emphasized that as you walk faster there is a corresponding increase in the health benefits that you will receive.  

But this is only half of the story… 

In addition to recommending 2 hours and 30 minutes per week of a moderate intensity aerobic activity, like walking, the CDC also recommends that adults perform muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week.  While walking is great for your aerobic fitness, walking will not strengthen most of your major muscle groups. 

Do you have any idea what the word ‘sarcopenia’ means?  I didn’t either.  But, I learned that sarcopenia is a condition of age-related loss of muscle mass and strength.  We begin to lose muscle mass around age 40 and, if you don’t do anything to stop it, up to 33% of your muscle mass may be gone by age 80. 

Researchers are focusing on why we lose muscle mass as a part of aging and many think that it is related to a slow-down of blood flow to our muscles as we age which deprives our muscles of the nutrients and oxygen needed to rebuild and repair our muscles. 

Weight training is one way to stop the process of losing muscle mass and increasing the blood flow to your muscles.  (Prevention –Feb 2010, pg. 73) In as little 15-30 minutes each day, you can perform all the weight training exercises you need to realize improvement in your muscle mass – no matter what your age!  

Weight training will help you reverse the age-related loss of muscle mass and prevent an increase in body fat as you maintain or increase your muscle mass.  Exercise helps the muscle cells get bigger and it also makes your muscles stronger.  Weight training will reduce body fat, increase your bone density, increase lean muscle, and help you control your weight as your body burns calories more efficiently.  If you are suffering from arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity or osteoporosis, weight training can help reduce the symptoms of these chronic conditions.

It is easy to start a weight training program right at home.  All you need are free weights which you can find at any Target, Wal-Mart or sports store. You can try the weights out at the store to see what you should start with.  I have 3 lb., 5 lb., and 8 lb. weights that I use for my workouts.  Believe it or not these free weights coupled with exercises that use your own body weight for resistance is all that you need to start a weight training program. 

The most recent information on weight training indicates that aiming for 8-12 repetitions of the heaviest weight that you can lift is the most efficient way to work your muscles.  For instance, if you are a beginner to a weight training program and you are working your biceps, see if you can lift 3lbs for 8 repetitions.  Was it easy or were you struggling to make it to 8 reps?  If you were struggling, then you are using the correct weight, for now.  If it was easy to reach 12 reps then move up to the 5lbs. and so one until you find a weight that is challenging for you.  When your current weight is no longer a challenge, move up to the next weight. 

Your weight training routine should target your main muscle groups including legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.  Right now I am following the Total Body Routine developed by Mark Fenton in his book The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss & Fitness.  For a comprehensive weight training routine, Fenton suggests building up to 2 sets of 12 reps for the following exercises:  push-ups, bent-over rows, lunge with bar or weights, full abdominal crunch, overhead press, pull-ups, squat with bar or weights, isometric side support, dips and biceps curl.  If your time for weight training is limited, he suggests completing exercises 1-6 from the list above on the 1^st day and exercises 7-10 on the 2^nd day.  You should alternate between the 1^st workout and the 2^nd workout 3 times per week allowing for 1 day of full rest.  Disclaimer:  I do not do pull-ups and I substitute ‘regular’ crunches in the sit-up position for the full abdominal crunch. 

If you are unfamiliar with any of the exercise above or you want to try different weight training routines, there are many resources that can help:

• Check out Fenton’s book from your local library and learn about the Total Body Routine exercises and all of the other great walking information he discusses in his book
• Go to the AARP website for video instruction on some of the exercises listed above
• Go to the Prevention website for demonstrations of arm, back, butt, chest, and leg exercises
• Check out weight training DVDs or books at the library
• Hire a personal trainer for a session or two
• Ask a friend who has experience weight lifting to give you some pointers
• Download a weight lifting instructional application to your smart phone

Like all exercise programs, you should warm up your muscles before you jump into the main routine.  I do an ‘ultimate energy’ qigong stretching routine before I lift weights.  Check out this link if you want to learn more about qigong or you would like to see a step-by-step video presentation of this routine.  This routine gently stretches many of your main muscle groups and it is a good start to a weight lifting routine.  One more thing to remember is that you should never work the same muscles two days in a row – give those muscles a day off in between workouts.  

So keep walking everyday, but also think about starting a weight training program today to keep your muscles strong and healthy for a lifetime. 

Do you lift weights regularly?  Do you lift at home or at the gym?  Let me know with a comment.

A 2008 study conducted by Western Washington University psychology professor Ira Hyman found that 75 % of walkers who were talking on a cell phone did not see the colorfully dressed clown riding a unicycle in the same open plaza that they were walking through. 

This study followed a related study by Hyman that reported that walking cell phone users were more distracted than those walking and listening to music devices, those walking in pairs or those walking alone.  Furthermore the study reported that walking cell phone users were slow and zigzagging as they walked.  Professor Hyman considered whether “they had a harder time walking because they were not as plugged into the world around them.” (1)    

Do you frequently walk while talking on your cell phone?  In our busy lives we often try to multi-task by walking and making calls to a spouse, friend, family member or work associate.  The problem is that talking on a cell phone while walking can prevent you from receiving many of the benefits that daily walking has to offer. 

Downsides of Multi-Tasking 

Have you ever noticed that if you are talking on your cell phone while walking once your route is done you have no recollection of actually ‘being there? 

Professor Hyman’s study reports that the walking / phone talking combo results in slower, less purposeful walking.  If you are walking slower than normal, then you are short-changing your heart and lungs from the aerobic health benefits that walking offers.  

Talking on the phone while walking might prevent the stress reduction benefits that come from walking and it may increase your stress levels if you are having a dreaded or confrontational call or you are talking to someone who frequently bombards you with their stressful life. 

Walking and talking on the phone doesn’t allow for a mind time-out.  My favorite part of walking is letting my thoughts roam free to day dream.  Its amazing how your brain will problem-solve or come up with great ideas for home or work when you give yourself some time for random thought. 

If you are talking on the phone while walking outside you probably aren’t appreciating the emergence of spring flowers, how the buds are plumping up on the trees, how fast the clouds are moving across the sky or all of the interesting characters you see walking down a city sidewalk.  You are not experiencing your surroundings – you are not present in the moment. 

Let’s face it; if the subjects in the study didn’t see a flamboyantly dressed clown while talking on the phone, it is safe to say that you won’t notice someone who could be a threat to you because they can tell you aren’t paying attention. 

How to Free Your Daily Walk from the Phone 

Now that you know how much you are short-changing yourself from daily walking benefits by using your cell phone while walking what can you do to stop? 

Try to leave your phone at home, at your desk or in the car.  If you feel safe and/or there are other people that could assist you in an emergency where you walk, try to leave the phone behind.  Do you really have to be available during the time that you will be walking?  Liberate yourself from the phone.  Enjoy the freedom. 

Screen your calls and only answer ‘emergency’ calls.  If you feel safer keeping your phone with you during your daily walk try to not answer incoming calls.  Let voice mail pick up the call.  Put the phone on ‘silent.’  If you must answer the call keep the call short or tell the caller you will have to call back. 

Make calls only during your ‘cool-down.’  If you absolutely have to make a call try to call only during the last few minutes of your walk….during the cool-down.  This practice will allow you to reap the benefits of walking during the majority of your walk time but you will also have a few minutes to make a call when you are already walking slowly. 

Daily walking can be one of the best things you do for yourself all day.  If you use your walking time to talk on a cell phone you are missing out on many of the benefits that can keep us motivated to walk every day, no matter what.  Don’t short change yourself or your daily walking routine.  Embrace all of the benefits that daily walking can bring to your life…kick the phone habit and give your mind a break. 

Have you walked today?  Do you frequently talk on the phone while you walk?  Keep in touch by clicking the comments link below.

(1)  Relyea, Kie.  “Clown Passes Unnoticed by Cell Phone Users.”  The Tennessean 26, November 2009:  22A.

Have you ever thought that walking is too easy to be considered a ‘real’ exercise?  That walking is what you do when you want an easy fitness routine?  Something you do when you are recovering from an injury?  Something you do when you can’t run or bicycle?  Do you ever wonder if walking is really a workout?  Is walking enough?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that adults need 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity every week for the greatest health benefits.  That’s less than 22 minutes each day.  You don’t even have to complete the 22 minutes all at once.  Exercising at a moderate intensity for at least 10 minutes leads to the same health benefits as longer sessions. And, yes, walking is considered a moderate intensity activity but to reach ‘moderate intensity’ the CDC states you need to walk at least as fast as a 15 minute mile. 

I thought a 15 minutes mile sounded easy enough.  I was sure that I was walking at least that fast when I walk during my lunch break.  So I timed myself using my cell phone clock – not exactly precise timing but close enough.  During the cold of winter I walk on a small track.  I warm up with a .5 lap of slow walking and I end my walk with a .5 lap of slow walking.  I walk a mile or 10.47 laps at my ‘thinking’ pace.  This is the pace that lets my mind wander, brain storm, ponder and contemplate.  Any faster and my mind can’t wander as I seem to concentrate more on breathing and moving faster.  After walking for 1 mile I checked the phone and I was a little surprised to see that I do not walk a 15 minute mile…I walk a 17 minute mile.  So I tried again the next day and I walked a 16 minute mile.  Either way I am not meeting the CDC recommendation of walking a 15 minute mile.

Another way to measure your walking intensity is to count the number of steps you take per minute.  According to this study you need to take at least 100 steps per minute to reach a level of moderate intensity.  I enlisted the help of my son and his IPod Nano stop watch feature to time my steps per minute.  I tried to walk the same pace I do during lunch but the conditions were different from the track:  we were outside, it was windy and I had on a winter coat.  Nevertheless, the first test result was 120 steps per minute.  Second test, 118 steps per minute. 

If you aren’t walking a 15 minute mile or walking 100 steps per minute, realize that you are still doing something great for your health.  A study by Tim Church of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center concluded that walking at the pace of a 20 minute mile can improve your fitness.  This study tracked women who were 50 years old or older who walked 72 minutes per week at the pace of a 20 minute mile.  The study found a nearly 4% improvement in the cardiovascular fitness of the women tested despite the fact that they only walked 72 minutes per week and they walked at a 20-minute mile pace.  These results were not expected, in fact, Church stated he was really surprised at the increase in fitness of the test subjects.

Other studies have also been conducted to determine if people benefit from an exercise routine based on walking.  These studies examine how much walking is required to achieve health benefits and how walking slower or faster or for different lengths impact the health benefits. 

One study published in the January 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who walked at a moderate intensity level during their middle age years had “fewer chronic diseases and had greater mental acuity” at age 70.  The study also found that those women who walked even faster than a moderate pace “increased their odds of successful aging by 3-fold.”

Another study separated 128 sedentary men and women into two groups – one group walked at their own pace and the other group walked at a moderate intensity level.  Both groups participated in their assigned exercise routine for six months.  At the end of six months, both groups showed improvement in increased aerobic fitness and both groups showed a decrease in systolic blood pressure.  The group that walked at a moderate intensity was shown to exhibit more than double the health benefits of the group that self-paced their walks. 

What all these studies confirm is that walking is enough.  Walking at almost any pace will lead to some health benefits.  Walking at a moderate intensity level will lead to significant health benefits and walking even faster will lead to more substantial health benefits. 

Moving your body is always healthier than sitting or lounging.  Moving faster will provide you with even more health benefits than moving slower.

If you are just starting a walking routine finding a comfortable pace will keep you coming back for more.  Trying to do too much – too soon can result in injury or giving up if the effort required is too hard. 

For those of us who are already walking regularly, we should break free of our exercise comfort zone and challenge our bodies to walk at a faster pace.  Through this increased effort we can maximize the health benefits we receive from daily walking. 

For me, I may have become too accustomed to my ‘thinking pace.’  I am going to focus on increasing my pace during part of my daily walk – I think I will speed up during at least 3 or 4 laps so I will still have some walking time to brainstorm and ponder. 

Have you ever felt like exercise isn’t a real workout?  Do these studies make you want to walk longer or walk faster than you usually do?  Let me know in the comments.

One of my favorite blogs, Fit and Forty Something, recently asked ‘Does Walking Count.’ Read this post.

Routines give us predictability in our day, help us remember all of the things we need to accomplish and help us get things done more efficiently.  Take your morning routine for example.  As you start your work day you probably do the same things in the same way at about the same time every day.  This highly developed morning routine is necessary to get everyone out the door on time.  If you were forced to change up your routine every morning it would take a lot longer to get ready and you would probably forget something important like feeding the cat, giving your children their lunch money or letting the dog out.    

In much the same way that your morning tasks are easier under the framework of your morning routine, meeting your exercise goals is also easier if you assign a place for exercise in your daily routine.

Without a daily exercise routine:

• You can forget to exercise
• You exercise only for the time you have left rather than for the time you plan
• You can lose sight of your fitness goals
• It is easy to go down the slippery slope that starts with skipping a day ends with skipping every day. 

If you haven’t been successful keeping up with your exercise goals, could it be that you have not established exercise into your daily routine? 

Try giving exercise a priority status in your day like you (should) do for sleeping, eating, working, and spending time with your family.

Take it slow.  As you work to establish your new exercise routine it is more important that you exercise every day than it is for you to exercise a long time every day.  Commit to your exercise routine at the same time everyday for a minimum of 10 -15 minutes.  Nothing too strenuous.  Keep your new routine manageable as your body and your schedule adapt to the new routine.  You will have plenty of time to commit even more time and effort once your new routine is established.

I’ve been using this approach recently as I try to incorporate meditation into my daily routine.  Like most of you I need fewer things to do in the morning not more…. and that is why I rarely have time to meditate for more than 6 minutes each morning.  The important thing is that I have meditated every morning for the past two weeks.  I look forward to these precious minutes of quiet and solitude.  At some point in the future I may find a way to increase the time I meditate but I’m not worried about that now – the important thing is that I am giving meditation a place in my routine every morning.

It can also be helpful if you use a prompt in your day that will push you to exercise at that time.  I have 4 prompts in my work day that push me to walk:

• After I park my car I walk 7 minutes to the office
• At the start of my lunch break I walk for 20 minutes
• At the end of my work day I walk another 7 minutes back to my car
• When I get home from work my son and I walk my dog for 20 minutes 

Because my prompts for walking are so specific it is nearly impossible for me to forget to walk.  I have developed such strong habits for walking at these times that it is truly a part of my day as much as eating or sleeping.  As you work on developing your exercise routine try to work prompts into your day so that exercise will become an important part of your day.

Checklist for starting an exercise routine:

• Give exercise priority status in your daily schedule
• Find a way to exercise every day; use prompts in your day that will push you to exercise
• Focus on the daily habit.  Don’t try to do too much too soon.
• Keep at it even when you don’t want to – you will love yourself if you do
• Try not to miss a day for at least the first 10 days
• Do it for you.  Tell yourself frequently why you want to exercise every day
• Make it real – tell your family and friends about your new exercise routine or write about it in your journal;
• Find support in a friend, an exercise group or Walk Today. 

One last thought…If the thought of starting an exercise routine now, in the dead of winter, leaves you feeling blah don’t feel bad.  It can be very hard to motivate ourselves to start a fitness routine when it is cold and gray outside – maybe that is one reason our New Year’s fitness goals don’t always work out so well.  Spring will be here soon so now is the perfect time to start planning an exercise routine that you can start once the snow melts and the temperatures rise.  I hope these pictures will remind you of the warm days ahead and will inspire you to start planning a spring exercise routine today.

Chicago, IL

Henderson, KY

Gordonsville, TN

Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN

Tell me how you plan to start or change your exercise routine?  Will your routine change when Spring comes?  Does your routine change from workday to weekend?

You may have heard that the First Lady is tackling the issue of childhood obesity through the Lets Move campaign. The First Lady’s Lets Move campaign is a coordinated community response to a frightening trend towards childhood weight gain.  One focus of Lets Move is to encourage children to exercise more.  As a parent or caregiver you can start your own Lets Move by walking campaign at home to help your children achieve or maintain a healthy weight. 

How serious is the problem of childhood weight gain?  One in three American children is overweight or obese.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that the number of obese children has more than tripled in the past 30 years. 

The CDC recommends that children participate in 60 minutes of physical activity every day.  Our children are not getting enough physical activity at school.  The elementary children in my school district have recess on some days and some days they don’t.  The days of recess are over once the kids hit middle school.  For both elementary school and middle school the block of time for the ‘Arts’ is shared among music, art and PE so that means the children don’t get PE every day either. 

Walking with your children each day will help them meet the CDC recommendations for 60 minutes of daily physical activity needed to help achieve or maintain a healthy weight.  A family walking program will allow you to serve as a role model for your children on how to live a healthy and fit lifestyle.  As your children’s most important role-model, you can encourage healthy habits, like walking, by doing it yourself and creating time in your children’s day so that they can walk too.  

No matter what your child’s age you can start a walking program together.  My son and I started walking together when he was an infant.  Every evening I put him into the stroller and we would walk around our neighborhood streets.  He seemed to look forward to our outings and I loved getting some exercise and talking with the neighbors.  Even though I was the only one walking on these excursions we were creating a habit of walking together that has continued for many years. 

So what do you do when your child grows out of the stroller?  Start off slow.  If you have been using a stroller at some point you will want your toddler to join you while you walk.  Expect that your walks will be much shorter and you will have to walk much slower.  You may be able to convince your toddler to take a stroller ride after your walk together so that you can finish your walk.  If that won’t work try switching from a stroller to a wagon that you can pull – it might be easier to convince her to take a wagon ride when her legs get tired.  Just keep in mind that you are working to create a healthy habit for your toddler and this will take time and patience. 

How do you incorporate walking into your children’s day?  There are lots of ways that you can incorporate more walking in your children’s daily lives.  Try parking away from the playground so that the kids get some extra exercise as they walk to the play area.  When my mom takes the grand kids (ages 2, 4, 12 and 14) to the park, she always takes them on the walking trail first and then the playground.  She started this with the older two grandkids and has continued it with the youngest two.  The walk with Nanny is just part of the fun for the kids.   

Take the family to the park or green way.  Older children can pull the younger ones in a wagon or push them in a stroller.  

Do you have a dog?  Make walking the dog part of the family’s daily routine.  Your dog will love you for it, your family will get some exercise and fresh air and your children will learn how to take responsibility for the family pet. 

Can you walk with the kids to school?  Walk around the track together after school?  Walk home from school?  Can the family take a break from hectic evenings to take an evening stroll after homework or after dinner? 

How about planning nature hikes on the weekend – shorter ones for younger kids and longer hikes for older kids?  Many state and local parks have weekend activity programs tailored specifically for children’s interests. 

There are endless ways that your family can start walking together every day.  Just try to find a routine that you can stick to during the week and plan longer walks for the weekends.  While your kids may put up a fuss at first, I bet they will come around and start to look forward to the time spent with family. 

With the increasing rates of obesity in both children, it is more important than ever to make physical activity a part of your children’s daily routine.  If you start a walking routine with your children today you will go far in reducing the chance that your children will be overweight or obese.  Start walking with your children today and encourage them to adopt a healthy habit they can use for a lifetime.  

Do you ever worry that your children aren’t getting enough exercise?  Share with a comment. 

For more information on the health risks of childhood obesity, read this Washington Post article.