Patient Education Center

Exercise!

• Apr 26, 2022, 9:11 AM

How is everyone doing on this journey we have started? We are on a collective journey and the end result is improved health and well-being. We started off with food and nutrition. I hope that the information has been helpful and also encouraged you to start this journey. I have been thinking about the next step and decided that exercise is the best topic to follow up the nutrition information.

For many people, like myself who did not grow up with exercise as a natural part of my lifestyle it is very hard to introduce it now and incorporate it into our daily lives.

There is always a good reason not to exercise; Life always gets in the way and scheduling it into our life is challenging. Getting motivated is also a huge part of the battle. In our younger days, we didn’t have to make plans to be physically active, we were just busy, running around, playing. Now as adults in our increasingly automated sedentary world things have changed. Now, we MUST make the time.

Why should we exercise?

There are many benefits to exercise.

Energy, strength, stamina, balance and mental well-being, are all positively affected by exercise. There are chemical changes that occur in our body as a result of exercise that influence our bodies in a positive way. Our bones and muscles maintain their strength and integrity. We age gracefully and maintain our physical function much better.

Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.

Lack of exercise promotes illness, fatigue, mental cloudiness, depression and we become increasingly frail. It becomes increasingly hard to just do the activities of daily living. We see this in our patient population all the time.

So what is appropriate amount of exercise?

It depends on your goals.

If you want to just exercise and get healthy the recommendation is 150 minutes weekly. This can take on any form; you can go walking, biking, running, play tennis, or dance or any variation of these. You can go to the park and play with your kids. ALL of it counts towards your physical and mental well-being. If your goal is also to lose weight and get some of your health issues in order then more exercise is helpful. I am attaching to this letter some options and suggestions for exercise.

Finding time is the biggest challenge in this super-fast society. Instead of waiting for the ideal conditions of 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted time to go to the gym. Start now, using whatever time you have and make the most of it. If you are taking your kids to a sports activity don’t just sit there and watch, use this time to exercise while they are on the field. Perhaps add some strength exercises for 5 minutes as soon as you wake up. Try to take your dog for a longer walk or when the dog stops to smell the roses, you can stop and add some squats and lunges. Join a dance class or go swimming. If you are stuck at a desk all day, every day, get up and move every hour. Stand up, stretch and take a deep breath. You will perform better at life. Exercise is one of the BEST ways to improve the stress in our daily lives. As we become increasingly automated in our daily lives, let us work together to maintain our strength, mobility and stability. As always please consult your doctor prior to initiating any exercise or diet plan. We do not want you to injure yourselves! Start slow and work towards a goal. There are many APPS for our smartphones out there that can help us in our quest for healthy exercise.

LET’S GET MOVING! WE WILL PROPEL FORWARD TOGETHER TOWARDS OUR GOAL OF GOOD HEALTH AND WELLNESS!