The prompt this week for Give Me Five Monday
is Give Me Five ways to fit exercise into your life.
It is late Monday. I did indeed fit some exercise into my day today. First I’ll list those ways, and then direct you to a couple of resources I really like:
- If it fits with your busy life to have a dog, the dog will need to go for walks, and you will be the one walking the dog. Our dog knows what time of day I usually take her for a walk, and will come and stare at me expectantly to help me remember. This is the most consistent exercise that I get.
- This is weird, but helping my elderly mom get into and out of the car, try on shoes and clothing, etc. when we go to appointments or go shopping is quite a work out. This isn’t a daily thing, but did happen today.
- Monday is a big laundry day at our house. I incorporate large movements and lots of bending into my loading, unloading and folding routine. The large items like stacks of towels and comforters for the beds I carry upstairs as they are cleaned, and try to move quickly up the stairs for a little extra push.
O.K. That’s it for what I actually did. Now, here is one great resource I’d like to share with you:
-
On a great site called Women to Women I recently read an article by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN entitled Seven Myths About Women’s Health. One of the myths is, “You need to exercise 30–60 minutes per day to have any impact on health.” Here is a brief excerpt from this article:
‘That’s just not so. “Bursting” is an exercise method where you quickly and repeatedly bringing your body to an extreme and back again — to the point where you’re breathing so heavily, you might not be able to talk. If you exercise in bursts, you may not require more than 20 minutes three to four times a week to improve your health. No matter how busy you are or what sort of shape you are in, you can benefit from this time-efficient method — as long as you keep at it regularly.‘
- Another great resource is a book on stretching that I love, Stretching by Bob Anderson. I do one of the stretch routines every night before bed. There are stretches in this book for before and after every sport you can think of, plus for any problem areas, such as back pain.
There you have it. That’s what came to mind. Oh, I thought of one more funny one. When the children put on music with a catchy beat, start dancing vigorously. You’ll all get a big laugh out of it (at least my children laugh at me), plus a little free exercise.
