By Katherine Hegemann
It’s Your Body: Exercise
Exercise is essential to your well-being and living well. The benefits of exercise are known, but many people just don’t do it. Additionally, there are common misconceptions about what is good for you and how much work is entailed.
Just how does exercise benefit you? There is an old saying, “Use it or lose it.” It’s true with muscles. Muscles have to be used to stay strong and supple, and lack of exercise means muscles weaken. Your muscles do more than most of us realize. Muscles control breathing, heartbeat, digestion, holding your body upright, walking, and much more. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that body can do what it needs to so your life is as good as possible.
Why then do people not regularly exercise or just avoid it completely? Unfortunately, exercise has gotten a bad name – it is associated with sweat, youth, painful muscles, and injuries. Experts often expect a person to spend at least 20-30 minutes each day exercising, which is more than many are willing to do. Many people engage in an exercise program when they are young, but as they get older they don’t change their routine to allow for their aging and abilities. That means they get bored with their routine or find they can’t do it anymore.
There are many types of exercise you can consider, three of which are aerobic, strength training, and stretching.
Aerobic exercises are useful to the cardiovascular system, helpful in maintaining healthy weight, and assist in keeping fit. Some people enjoy joining a gym, but that is not necessary.
Children, for the most part, get plenty of aerobic exercise; however, the amount they get has decreased. Schools, churches, and community centers are working to help children get more aerobic exercise.
Adults have to work harder to get enough aerobic exercise (http://ezinearticles.com/?Some-Examples-of-Aerobic-Activities&id=142174). Some examples of adult aerobic exercise to do inside you home are dancing, cleaning, skipping rope, and following a routine on a DVD. Outside home exercises include running, jogging, biking, and walking.
If you decide to join a gym, there are people on staff who can develop an exercise plan tailored to your needs and goals. The most important step is to get moving. Remember, walking is still the easiest, most popular, and cheapest way to get your aerobic exercise.
Strength training is resistant training to increase physical strength (http://moveit4.org/dictionary.php). Some examples of these exercises include pushups, pull-ups, curls, calf and leg raises, and triceps extensions. Many people who use strength training lift weights, but you need to be realistic about strength training. You should start with one pound weights and build up to a goal based upon your abilities and desired outcome.
One easy way to do strength training is to use bags of rice or beans, or socks filled with pebbles for your weights (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Weight-Set). You get what you need and a very little expense.
Here are two strength training exercises:
- Sit in a chair, use the weight and lift one leg until it is straight out. Hold for a count of ten. Slowly return the leg to the original position. Do this three times for each leg. Then rest for a minute or two.
- Hold the weight in your right hand by your right leg, slowly lift your arm until it’s pointed at the ceiling. Very slowly lower you arm to the original position. Do three repetitions for each arm. Rest again.
Remember, if you are a beginner, don’t overdo any strength training exercise.
Stretching exercises lengthen the muscles and increase flexibility (http://www.answers.com/topic/stretching-2). Some benefits of stretching are improvements in flexibility, range of motion, circulation, posture, stress relief, and coordination (http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/flexibilityexercises/a/stretchbasics.htm).
All stretches should be slow and held 20-30 seconds. Try to do three repetitions for each stretch. Never hold a stretch until it hurts.
Here are some easy stretches you can do:
- Stand straight with your hands held toward the ceiling then reach upward until you feel your arms, legs, and back lengthen. Slowly return to your original position.
- Standing, lift your arms upward then slowly bend forward as far as you can. If you can, touch your hands to the floor. If you can’t do that, try to go as far as your knees and use them for support. Slowly return to your standing position.
- Standing, place your hands on your lower back palms to your back. Now, lean backward from the waist, being sure not to go so far you lose your balance or become uncomfortable. Hold, and then return to your upright position.
- Stand an arm’s length from a counter. Grasp the counter and lean forward, keeping your body straight and feet flat. Hold for ten seconds and return to your original standing position.
Here is an article from the Guide to the Good Life website titled “5 Simple Stretches to Do Every Day” (http://www.guidetothegoodlife.com.au/archives/710).
There are exercise routines for people with disabilities and other physical limitations. Visit the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability for more information: (http://www.ncpad.org/). No matter your physical ability or age, there are exercises that can help you have a better and more productive life.
One or more of these types of exercise can help you become or stay healthy. Develop your own routine that meets your physical needs and fits your time constraints.
Your Mind: What’s Up?
Keeping those brain cells active is as important as exercising your body. Studies show that an active, curious mind is one defense against degenerative brain disease.
Lifelong learning is one way to keep the mind active. It is a method of keeping your mind and body engaged – no matter your age – by enthusiastically pursuing knowledge and experience. What do you enjoy? What have you always wanted to do? What do you want to learn? It doesn’t matter whether you learn a new dance, a foreign language, painting, quilting, gardening, or anything that interests you. There are so many benefits: sharpen your mind, improve your memory, grow your self-confidence, meet new people, building skills (http://seniorliving.about.com/od/lifetransitionsaging/a/lifelonglearnin.htm).
Exploring your world sharpens your mind also, and you don’t have to go very far to do that. There are so many places to visit and explore in neighboring areas of Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. If you would go fifty miles or less, you could spend the rest of your life learning about exciting, novel, and historical places. There are many festivals close by for entertainment and a chance to learn more about Appalachian culture. Have you been to an event at Heritage Hall? If not, you’re missing a chance to grow and have fun. When is the last time you visited the Johnson County Public Library? You might be surprised at who you’ll meet and what you’ll learn.
Your Spirit: Appreciation
It has been said by modern Christian theologians that there is one prayer that Christians need to make daily; a prayer of thanks. What a wonderful idea! No matter your religious or spiritual preferences, or even if you have no religious beliefs, being thankful is nurturing to the spirit. It is helpful to be specific when you recount your thanks. That specificity helps you center your thoughts and makes for a grateful spirit.
Stop, look, listen. Pausing to do this makes you appreciative of the natural world. Additionally, it calms the spirit.
Stop and just breathe. Breathe in through the nose and expand the diaphragm then the lungs. Hold it. Slowly exhale through the nostrils. Do this three to five times, and you will feel calmer.
Look and watch the clouds. Remember when you were a child and saw all kinds of animals, people, and objects floating. Try that again.
Listen when you are outside. You can hear the wind, rain, snow, and all the animals.
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