by Juli Kagan, RDH, Med
Nike's explosive campaign says: "Just do it." I think seated professionals should start on a new campaign called "Just Get Moving!" The plain reality is that we work all day while sitting in a chair. We drive home sitting in our car. We eat dinner in a seated position. Finally, we often either sit in front of a computer or lay down watching a TV screen for much of the evening! Quite simply, we need to be more active. This is an important first step towards better health and fitness.
Get Moving
To begin with, park your car farther away than normal and take some extra steps to get to where you're going! If you did park close, kick up your pace a bit and walk fast instead of listlessly. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Better yet, walk up the escalator if you can't find the stairs. Look for "exercising opportunities" in order to be more active. Have you ever thought that climbing up and down 12 to 15 flights of stairs could be considered part of your exercise regimen? It counts! Little extra measures, and finding ways to fit in fitness, can really add up over days, weeks, and years.
If you are not used to exercising routinely, begin walking gradually. Go early in the morning when the sun is rising or in the evening when the sun is setting. If it's too cold, go to the mall on your way home from work! Promise yourself you'll only go out for about 15 to 20 minutes. (You'll see that once you're out, 20 minutes will seem too short!) Exercising for your body and mind doesn't have to be an Olympic event. It's about moving.
Are you giving me excuses already? Well, here's the real deal: make an excuse that exercising will simply bring you a higher level of health. Make your personal well-being the reason to walk farther, step more frequently, and stand with better posture. Set an appointment with yourself, at least four times a week, to exercise. Have it be "your time." Better yet, find an activity that you like or can do with others. There is nothing like a little peer-pressure if you need to get motivated or stay on track.
The evidence is clear and the benefits of exercising are plentiful. Go ahead, put down that magazine, get away from your computer monitor, and do it: Just get moving!
Juli Kagan, RDH, M.Ed. is a certified Pilates instructor. Coalescing both disciplines, she wrote Mind Your Body: Pilates for the Seated Professional. Visit her Web site at MindYourBodyBook.com.
References:
1 John M. Jakicic, Ph.D., director, Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center, University of Pittsburgh; Rachel Ballard-Barbash, M.D., associate director, National Cancer Institute applied research program, Bethesda, Md.; I-Min Lee, Sc.D., M.P.H., associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Sept. 10, 2004, Journal of the American Medical Association.
