Healthy Staff Installment 2:
I received a great question requesting a realistic fitness program for people with full- time jobs and families. I've given this some thought, and hope that some of these ideas will help.
We all have great intentions of getting home from work and taking an exercise class or going for a run or a walk, but reality hits us when we walk through the door: fatigue, children's needs, homework, emails, dinner, laundry. We should schedule exercise just the way we do a doctor's appointment--schedule the time in and do it. Some people have found that getting up 30 minutes earlier helps, though I'm not one of those people! Fitness studies show that 3 short walks in a day (15 minutes/walk) is just as effective as a 45 minute walk, and may be more manageable than trying to fit in one large block of time. It is important to increase your heart rate during any kind of cardio exercise for effective calorie burning; short 20 second bursts of intense cardio followed by 1 minute of rest for 20 minute increments (called interval training) is a very effective calorie burner and doesn't take much time. Bring your exercise shoes to work for a 20 minute walk during your lunch break. Do squats while walking, and bring some little 5 pound hand weights for upper body toning. Perhaps you could bring some 8 or 10 pound weights to work and do weight conditioning in your classroom during lunch when students are out of the classroom. Weight conditioning is as important as cardio for effective weight management. Another idea would be to keep weights in a basket by the TV, and do some arm and shoulder weight lifting during commercials. Be careful to start out with a lower weight , then work up to 10 or 12 pounds as your body adjusts. Three sets of 12 reps is the usual recommendation. Cardio exercise should be done @ five times/week, weights @ 3 times a week.
I hope these suggestions are helpful and realistic. Even little changes help!
For Staff