Physical Activity

Physical Activity

Living a sedentary lifestyle can increase your risk of future health problems so it’s important to get into the habit of doing some sort of physical activity at least 3-5 days a week. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have a lot of extra time to devote to exercise, but did you know that you can do shorter periods of exercise throughout the day and still benefit? It is recommended that you do 30 minutes of exercise a day, 3-5 days a week. This can be broken down into shorter 10 minute or 15 minute periods if you’re having a difficult time fitting 30 minutes into your schedule. If you can, try to gradually increase your daily exercise time to 60 minutes a day to maintain a healthy weight.

Daily Activities

Walk or bike to work and/or school
Go for a 10 minute walk right away in the morning, during lunch or before you go to bed
Take the stairs rather than an elevator
Park if a spot further from the entrance
Take longer routes when walking from one place to another
Find activities you like to do outside such as golf, frisbee, bocce ball, volleyball, archery or ice skating.

Doing activities to keep your heart and lungs healthy is very important. Aerobic activities improve the effectiveness of your blood vessels, lungs and heart. Aerobic activities are activities that require the presence of oxygen. When oxygen is present, your body is able to stay active for longer periods of time because your muscle cells are using oxygen and fuel to contract repeatedly without getting tired. There are several different aerobic activities you can do.

Aerobic Activities:

Running/Jogging
Brisk Waking
Cross Country skiing
Biking
Hiking
Rollerblading
Swimming
Racquetball/Tennis
Step Aerobics
Stair Climbing
Snow shoeing

It’s easy to forget about stretching and strengthening exercises, but they are also a very important part of keeping your body healthy. Strengthening activities are called anaerobic activities because they do not use oxygen to fuel metabolism so the muscles are not able to contract for long periods of time and fatigue much faster.

Fatigue: Deterioration in performance due to weakening of muscles

Strengthening exercises are important for preventing injuries.

Strengthening exercises:

Lifting weights
Push-ups
Lungs
Squats
Pilates
Resistance balls
Curl-ups
Tension bands

Stress is a part of everyone’s life and can cause many physical symptoms including muscle tension. Taking time out of your day to do some stretching exercises can be a very helpful way of reducing stress along with improving your flexibility. Stretching also reduces your chances for muscle aches and pain and decreases your risk of injury. There are several ways to fit stretching into your day. When you’re at work or school, take a couple minutes between classes or subjects to stretch your arms and legs. If you’re watching TV, try lying on the floor and stretching during the program or on commercials. And, right before you go to bed, allow a couple extra minutes to stretch out.

For tips and pictures on safe stretching, click here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/SM00043&slide=1

For more information and exercise ideas click on the links below:
http://www.teensexercise.com

Online fitness plan:
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/my_fitness_plan.html

Calculate your BMI here:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3048134

Calculate your Target Heart Rate:
http://www.myfooddiary.com/resources/heart_rate_calculator.asp

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