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Community Corner

Get Up and Move

Helath coach Stephanie Korn discusses the importance of exercise and how to get started.

As human beings, we are constantly striving for balance in our lives.  We make time to work, and we make time to play.  We enjoy time with our children, and we schedule date nights with our spouses.  We prepare healthful meals at home and take the night off and dine out on the town. 

Unfortunately, and realistically, we often find ourselves out of balance.  What to do?... You may ask yourself if work is too stressful, or if you have not scheduled any "alone time" in a while.  Very often, though, we forget to check in with our bodies.  Your body can give you some very strong signals as to whether you are holding stress, such as tight shoulders or the inability to fall asleep like a baby at 10:00 pm on the dot as usual.  Giving your body a virtual "check-in" is a must, and most often you most likely will realize that your state of equilibrium could be substantially improved by adding more physical activity into your life. 

Exercise has so many benefits, physically as well as mentally.   Most can all agree with the experts, that moderate physical activity helps prevent many chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease and osteoporosis.  However, exercise has also been proven to improve one's mood and energy level.  According to the Mayo Clinic, "Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out. You'll also look better and feel better when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. …Physical activity [also] delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues.  In fact, regular physical activity helps your entire cardiovascular system — the circulation of blood through your heart and blood vessels — work more efficiently [and increasing your energy level]. " (www.mayoclinic.com

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For those who already exercise steadily but feel like you are in a rut, simply changing your routine can add back energy and excitement.  If you run four or five days a week, try a yoga class or Zumba, ballroom dancing, or cycling.  Or, try to find a workout partner to provide some inspiration and accountability.  People who workout with a friend or training partner usually do so more consistently, plus it can be more fun.  If you know that your friend is waiting for you at the corner of Broadway at 6:30 a.m., you are definitely going to roll out of bed and get those sneakers on.

For those of you new to exercise, it is extremely important to check with your primary care physician before beginning any type of routine. Once you are given the thumb's up, it is time to decide just what type of physical activity to try. As a fellow member of the Rivertowns community, I think the easiest place to begin is along the Aqueduct.  While walking certainly gets the heart rate up, it is also easy…and free!  The Old Croton Aqueduct offers 26.2 miles of trails from Yonkers to Croton with multiple access points and seems to be the perfect place to embark on your exercise routine. 

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Chris Wade, CSCS, is the founder of Accelerated Coaching and a certified Sports Performance Coach and Personal Trainer who  works with  athletes as well as general fitness clients. He also believes that walking is a great way to start exercising "because it has virtually no barriers to entry (e.g. you can do it anywhere and it requires no special equipment) and it is an incredibly healthful, functional activity."  To get the best fitness benefits from your new walking program Chris suggests:

1.  Walk at a Brisk Pace—For most folks that pace is somewhere between 3.0 and 4.5 Mph (so each mile would take the walker somewhere between 13 and 20 minutes). But the best guide to how fast you should be walking is your heart. You can use the generally reliable 'talk test.' Gage your breathing against your walking. If you are walking at an appropriate pace you will feel just slightly short of breath, such that you could speak but you don't really want to engage in a lengthy conversation.

2.  How Long, How Far and How Often Should I Walk?—If you are just beginning to exercise you might start with ten minute walks. But if walking is going to be your chief form of aerobic exercise you are going to need to work yourself up to considerably longer walks. Indeed, the U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends that adults between the ages of 18 and 64 get a MINIMUM of 2.5 hours of walking or other 'moderate intensity aerobic activity' (along with resistance training) every week. So even if you can't do that now, it's a good intermediate fitness goal. You can break the time up anyway you want . . . 2 long walks a week or eight short ones a week. Just get your total time in.

3. Make Sure that Your Workouts Are Progressively More Challenging—To get on-going, long-term benefits from exercise you need to gradually ask the body to do work: you must increase the volume, the intensity, or both (e.g. increase the length and/or speed of the walk).

4.  Use Common Sense to Avoid Overtraining—Overtraining is usually associated with more intense exercise regimens like running and weightlifting. However, walking routines can push you into an overtrained state if you really overdo it. So, eat right, get plenty of rest/recovery, and make sensible, that is incremental jumps in your workout load.

5. Consider Where You Want to Walk—Track, paved roads/sidewalks, treadmill, malls, trails. You are certainly encouraged to vary the venue but it is important to have at least a few 'regular walks' so that you can check your progress and know when to increase the volume or intensity of your workouts.

6.  Walk with an Athletic Gait—The same work-to-car-to-TV-seated-all-the-time culture that makes it hard for us to exercise also corrupts our posture. With poor posture comes poor movement and most of us exhibit this when we walk or participate in any other transit or movement activity. Here is an example of where an experienced fitness professional can really help.

But even if you plan to exercise on your own for now, the good news is that there is a great deal you can do to improve your movement and posture just by focusing on these key points during your fitness walking workouts. First, pull your shoulder blades back and towards each other and keep them in that retracted position. Second, take long, full steps.  Third, try to keep your toes pointed straight ahead as you walk (don't let them rotate outward). Fourth, swing your arms properly and aggressively. This swing starts at the shoulder joint which sends the entire arm forward, then backward (not sideways) in forceful but controlled and rhythmic snap.

7.  If your primary goal is weight loss . . . if losing weight is your primary exercise goal is losing weight—that is losing fat while you gain or maintain muscle mass—then walking is a great place to start. But serious weight loss will require greater walking volume/work load, together with resistance training and a very disciplined, reasonable diet. Thus, I advise everyone who wants lose weight to hire a nutritionist or health coach and, if possible a personal trainer, too.

8. Add Resistance Training (i.e. Weight Training) to Your Routine—If you want to start with a few weeks of just walking great. But aerobic exercise isn't enough. Eventually, you need to add some resistance exercises. The CDC recommends adults 18-64 years old should participate in "muscle strengthening activities" for a minimum of two times per week and that these strengthening activities help effect every muscle group in the body.

9.  Finally and perhaps most important of all, remember to make your new training program a fun and pleasant experience. If it helps you to get started or stay on track, make a plan to reward yourself with some knew and stylish athletic wear when you've completed your first month of training. Make sure you allow enough time to get your sessions in. And, finally, do whatever you have to in order to get your training sessions in; they are profoundly important.

There are so many types of exercise programs to choose from.  The most important thing is that you find something that you enjoy and…as Nike says,  "Just Do It!"

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