Go to the Health Club OR Exercise at Home?
Physical activity, along with healthy diet are the pillars of healthy lifestyle. So, you have made the decision to get in shape. Wonderful! Your next move is to either go to a gym / health club or start exercising on your own. You may think buying exercise equipment could be too expensive, but think again. There are so many option out there today and the same goes for joining a gym or fitness center. What is important is to be physically active for a few hours a day, at work, at home, at the gym, anywhere.
Many gyms now accept health insurance. There are so many men and women who pay into their health insurance and have no idea they could be working out for free or near free. Many large companies have learned that keeping employees healthy actually keeps their health costs down in the long term. And gyms seem to always run deals or specials. Sometime you can ask for a discount: student, senior citizen, etc. And if a medical issue arises or pregnancy or you lose your job - most gyms will place a hold on your membership.
The cost of equipment can also be reasonable. Remember: you get what you pay for when buying equipment brand new. Do a little bit of research if you are going to invest in a large expensive piece of exercise equipment. Don’t forget other outlets. Many people buy items or gear and after a while, it is collecting dust or sitting in a closet. Their loss can be your gain. Treadmills, weight sets and other items can be found on craigslist, eBay, or local virtual garage sales, or the old fashioned garage sale or classified ads. If you are just starting your foray into working out- you may want to buy pre-owned items to save some money.
If your company has a gym in it, make use of it! Head into work early, or stay late to get that workout in. Or you may be able to use part of your lunch hour to eat at your desk and use that extra hour to get in a workout. Walking with other employees can be fun and fruitful.
Employers are starting to add fitness to the workday in many new ways. Physical activity at the workplace is becoming the way of the future. Standing desks, walking mats, and exercise balls in place of chairs are all ways companies are promoting health. Elliptical work desks and ab-focused workout chairs are available and furniture for your home like a curvy pilates lounger, and other furniture that is disguised as just furniture, but turns into exercise equipment is available for online purchase. A stool that looks like a stool, can work your core, since it is not flat on the ground, and can turn into a workout mat. If you are short on room, closet gyms can work for you. You can fit the treadmill, bands, and dumbbells into what looks like a closet.
Fitness trackers and wearable devices are making accountability easier and are a great way to show that you care about and monitor your health. It is not uncommon to see men & women wearing fitness trackers on their wrist as part of their everyday outfit. These trackers can report several pieces of information to you, including how many steps you have taken in a day (like a pedometer).
There are so many options whether you shop online or in a brick and mortar store. Or - just use what is at your disposal: take a walk, buy or rent or check out YouTube for exercise videos, or get creative at home (marching in place, sit ups, jumping jacks, planks will not cost you a thing)! So get moving; you have no excuse!!!
To your health!
Dr. Anthony
Top Must Have Ideas to Exercise at Work!
Just because you have to sit at a desk all day long at work, it doesn’t mean you can’t sneak in some exercise. Many employers have long been encouraging their staff to stay healthy. And some new office furniture may look like it is from the future - but this future, be sure, is coming very soon! Not only is it useful to get some exercise during your workday, it is a MUST! It is actually a surprise that for so long we have been wasting the longest part of our wakefulness (while working) sitting and expecting that when we return home after an exhaustive day of work and faced with home chores we will be spending an hour on treadmill! The “sitting disease” is bound to suffer a serious blow at the workplace.
So, now the entire world needs to respond aggressively and effectively to the obesity-diabetes epidemic. Creating opportunities for physical activity during our working daily schedule is one of the most untapped opportunities for increasing our daily physical activity. Replacing sitting at the workplace is becoming probably the most significant development in our fight against the health challenges of our time. We can no longer sit for 8 – 10 hours a day!
Let’s start with the easiest and most traditional way to get in some exercise at work...use your lunch break to get moving. Form a group of workers who want to walk during their lunch hour. Maybe you take 30 minutes to eat and the other 30 is spent walking outside. Not only will the fresh air and movement do you good, but it is a chance to catch up with friends. Furthermore, some offices offer gyms in their building which is a perk but only if you take advantage of it. Yet another idea is to take a 3 minute “exercise break” a few times during the day. If you have an area you can go to, take 3 minutes to get in jumping jacks, squats and jogging in place. What about, wall squats or calf raises while waiting at the copy machine, dips using your desk, leg lifts and even squeezing and tightening your buttocks while you sit. And if you have the choice of the elevator or stairs, take the stairs.
And then there is the “new kid in town” - Pieces of office furniture that allow you to work out while you are doing your job! Here are just a few examples:
A treadmill desk; it can briefly challenge your balance but have no worries; once you get used to it will run smooth and will not disrupt at all your job; you will be able to remain focus on the project and hand while shedding lots of calories
Standing desks, walking mats, and exercise balls in place of chairs are all new and available ways to use at work, a win-win situation for your employer who wants to promote the health of his employees and yourself who are desperately looking for those 40 minutes of exercise a day your doctor has been advising you for so long.
A bike desk is a unique way to work also. It looks like a stationary bike, with a desk attached. Elliptical work desks and ab-focused workout chairs are good choices too for sneaking in exercise at work.
As all this is new and there is, of course, resistance to change, it is possible that your employer has not incorporated any type of exercise equipment or furniture. Once they get over the unconventional, but great new workplace environment, they are likely to embrace it, some sooner than others. Rest assure, this new look and functionality in the workplace will soon become standard practice. After all, your employer knows all too well that a healthy employee is a happy and more productive employee!
To your health!
Dr. Anthony
Fitness Trackers … Are they worth it?
The newest rage in fitness is the fitness tracker. They range in price from around $30.00 to several hundred dollars. Do they work? Are they worth the money? And what exactly are they “tracking”?
The fitness tracker is a wearable device that will track everything from your steps, your sleep, your heart rate, blood pressure or oxygen level and even your sweat. It may reveal that you need to “step it up” (pun intended) or that you are on track to your fitness goals. It is available in app form as well and/or will work in conjunction with an app or your smart device. For most people, it is a reminder that you need to do more, and to some a surprise, that they have not been doing enough!
The fitness trackers are usually in the form of a band (usually worn on your wrist, ankle or neck) and they track your progress. One brand will light up to show your progress, another will display a red move bar after one hour of inactivity acting like a personal coach. A sweat tracking wearable is attached to the skin of your leg.
Shape magazine reported a recent survey by the NPD Group showed 58 percent of women who were asked intend to buy one of these devices. The most sought after features: counting calories and tracking the number of steps taken in a day.
I believe that the most important benefit of a fitness tracker is that it signals your determination to be directly involved in your own health and to start monitoring it. This is a much bigger step than most people would think. A great example is the number of steps you take in a day; taking at least 10,00 steps a day means that you meet or exceed the minimum exercise requirements of 150 minutes per week, an important milestone in healthy living. The 10,000 steps a day is also part of the “Step Diet”, a relatively straightford combination of physical activity and diet to help you lose weight. Exercise can also help you reduce your blood pressure (which can also be monitored by some wearables) and, thus, reduce the chances of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease.
Tracking your fitness is valuable; it can bring you back to reality. Maybe walking down the hall for that cup of coffee at work is not walking enough even though you pat yourself on the back for getting up and moving. Fitness trackers or apps can be the extra kick in the pants to help get you on the right path, but only YOU can make the changes you need.
There are a few issues that come along with the benefits of the fitness trackers. One is that they are not always very accurate. They can miss the number of steps you took and can tell you that you did not get enough sleep even if you did. Their data may also be too much to handle and can cause some confusion. There are technical improvements on the way that can improve the accuracy of these devices. And you don’t have to get caught up in the entire amount of information the tracker is telling you. You body, body weight and waist circumference, are good indicators of your health report card and complements the information from your wearable.
In Abdobesity, I write that “diagnosis is extremely important in medical care because it reveals the seriousness of the illness and suggests those treatments that are most likely to help the sick person.” While a tracker or app or device cannot diagnose a problem, they may be able to indicate if there is an issue with something such as blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, etc. If this is the case, discuss it with your physician. Your doctor can delve deeper to uncover what the issue is and what can be done to help with the problem at hand.
As always, be your own health advocate. Choose wisely. A fitness tracker is definitely an important step forward, but you may not need to pay too much for all the bells and whistles. Use your wearable to keep you in check, get moving or “coach” you to a healthy lifestyle. Just don’t rely on it as the end-all-be-all to good health.
To your health!
Dr. Anthony