Health

Fitness And Motion Solutions For Living

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:40 AM EST / CBS

Fitness is a way of life. We can find creative solutions to increasing our physical activity throughout the day, which will lead to an increase in energy and may have proven benefits against disease. Beauty and Wellness Contributor Dayle Haddon has tips on how to live well without having to run to the gym.

Reasons to Exercise

Reduces the Risk of Disease: Over 500,000 women die each year in heart and blood vessel disease-related deaths and heart disease accounts for more women's deaths than cancer and diabetes combined. A preventive measure is to exercise a total of 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Some studies suggest that increasing physical activity by 30 minutes a day can reduce the risk of heart disease by 20%.
Stimulates Bone Formation: Nearly _ of all women over the age of 50 suffer bone fractures due to osteoporosis. Weight bearing activities--exercises that target a specific muscle group--improves bone health by stimulating bone formation and strengthening the muscles that support the bones.
Increases Metabolism: For every 1 lb. of muscle gained, the body will burn an extra 50 calories a day. If you can increase your body's muscle mass by 2 lbs., your body will burn an additional 200 calories per day.
Weight Maintenance: It is estimated that 55% of American adults and 11% of adolescents between the ages of 12-17 are overweight. Participation in fitness and exercise activities--as a way of life--has been found to improve long-term weight loss in overweight adults.
Improves Mental Health: Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. It is estimated that 18 million Americans a year suffer from some sort of mental depression. A study from Duke University suggests that regular physical activity can lead to significant improvement in mental outlook and those who exercise regularly are less likely to experience a return of a depression.

Reasons We're Not Exercising

Time: Sports doctors are encouraging people to break their fitness routines into smaller, 5-minute segments, if time is a consideration.
Boredom: Exercise does not have to be boring! Any type of activity that incorporates the triad of fitness activity--aerobic exercise, flexibility and weight training--is beneficial to our overall health.
Age: Older adults do benefit from exercise, such as improved coordination, which can decrease the risk of falls.

Fitness and Motion Goals

Make Exercise Fun.
Use music and dance as a solution to integrating physical activity into your day.

View Fitness and Motion as a Way of Life.

Grab exercise and engage in physical ctivity throughout your day, in any format you can manage.

Change Your Goals.

Instead of viewing fitness as a method of losing weight, thinking of fitness and motion as a path to healthier living.

Creative Solutions:

Take the stairs.
Park the car away from the store
Instead of using the remote control, get up from the sofa to change the channels
Young mothers can hold their babies in their arms and dance
Walk on your lunch hour
Invite a female friend to begin walking with you
Encourage the family to go for walks together after dinner every evening

Tools for Exercising in Your Office or Living Room:

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends our fitness program include flexibility, aerobic and weight-bearing exercises. If 20-minute workouts hree days a week is too much given your time - consider breaking your routine into five-minute stretches throughout the day. Solutions include:

Stretch Bands (Flexibility)
- Portable: Can be stored in office drawers
- Will add to range of motion and flexibility
- Will build muscle
- Continued use can reduce muscular tension by the lengthening the muscle tissue.
Mini-Trampoline (Aerobic)
Stability Ball