|
Monday, December 28, 2009
Intermittent exercise - the best exercise?For decades, exercise professionals
have been emphasizing the need for structured exercise as the guiding tenet of physical activity and exercise program design.
It is now clear that too much sitting is hazardous to one's health, regardless of whether one meets the minimum daily exercise
guidelines or not.
Change your daily habits at your workplace, home, etc.
Find ways to site less and stand more throughout the day, particularly during sustained periods of sitting, thus incorporating
spontaneous physical activity in your day. Reduce your sedentary behavior by incorporating some of the following activities
throughout your day:
- Stand up and
walk around the office every 30 minutes
- Stand up and get some water
- Walk to the farthest bathroom in your facility
- Always stand
or walk around while on the phone
- Consider getting a standing workstation for
the computer
- Take a 5 minute walk break with every coffee break
- When you email a colleague, walk to their desk to follow up
For the two-hour timeframe spent watching TV and reading, some of these options might
work:
- Get up and move during every commercial
- Take a 5 minute walk break every 30 minutes
- Set a stationary
piece of cardiovascular exercise equipment near the TV and use it for several minutes every 1/2 hour.
- Stand up and do some easy (not strenuous) lunges or squats at least once every 1/2 hour.
- Stand up and move for the opening segment of each TV show.
- Get
up and walk around the room or house after reading a preset number of pages in a book.
The moral of this article:
Sit Less and Move more! -Len Kravitz, PH.D, Program Coordinator of exercise science and researcher at the University of New Mexico
at Albuquerque, IDEA Fitness Association, October 2009 Fitness Journal
12:28 am est
|