Archive for the ‘Daily Dose of Movement(c)’ Category

• DDM: Daily Dose of Movement

  Date: 2011.08.21 | Category: Daily Dose of Movement(c), Fitness & Health, Osteoporosis, Weight-bearing exercise | Response: 0

  

  My file cabinet is a great mini-stepper desk!

  No time for exercise? Get your DDM: Daily Dose of Movement in throughout the day with tiny bouts of exercise. One of my favorite ways to get my DDM is the mini-stepper that I keep under my desk and pull out anytime that I’m on the phone, reading, or even working at my computer. You’ll feel the effort in the muscles of the thighs and around the hip joints, which makes it a great workout for osteoporosis prevention, helping to maintain or even increase the bone density of your hips.  Also, you get a tiny heel thump at the bottom of each step, which  sends a little upward jolt that can stimulate bone growth in your lower spine and hips, like walking does. If you don’t like that thump or if it bothers your joints, don’t step down as far or put some padding below the foot plates. Caution: For safety, hang on to some form of support while on a stepper, especially if your balance is challenged.

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• Make time for 2 types of exercise!

  Date: 2011.08.01 | Category: Daily Dose of Movement(c), Fitness & Health, Strength Training for Osteoporosis Prevention, Strength Training for Women, Weight-bearing exercise | Response: 1

  

  Biking in Canada

  Ever since I wrote that blog post entitled, Time for just 1 kind of exercise? Strength train!, it has been nagging at me that I need to tell you that you MUST find the time to do two types!! Strength training AND cardiovascular exercise are the basis for lifelong fitness.  Besides helping to strengthen bones, strength training will help you have better cardio workouts which is why the American Heart Association recommends it. Lift those weights AND get out for a brisk walk, bike, or swim, even if it’s in little bits of time throughout the day. It will make you feel alive and happy! Adding bits cardio by always standing up when you answer the phone, stepping in place, and even taking the phone outside for a walk will help make it happen. Or, go on a biking or hiking vacation! Strength training has helped me keep up with my kid sister over the years on our bike rides around Whistler, BC.

   

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• Exercise Guidelines & Precautions

  Date: 2011.07.02 | Category: Daily Dose of Movement(c), Fitness & Health, Osteoporosis, Strength Training for Osteoporosis Prevention, Strength Training for Women | Response: 0

  

  Girija strength training

  It’s a great idea to adapt one’s exercise routine when you get to that over-50 mark! What worked when we were 20 can be counterproductive in the second half of our lives, especially if you are dealing with low bone density. If you are strength training for osteoporosis and fracture prevention, please heed these precautions!

  Jane Brody, Personal Health columnist for the New York Times, recently wrote a very important article entitled, Forget About Crunches. Here’s How to Protect Your Back,  for those who need to strengthen and protect their spines. (Really, who doesn’t??) Take a look at it. Even if you don’t have low bone density or osteoporosis, following these recommendations will protect the discs between the vertebrae of your spine, help maintain your bone density, and build beautiful posture.

  During and between exercise sessions, walk tall by standing up straight, slide chin back, pull shoulders back and down, pull tummy in, and lift your chest up as if you’re showing off a gorgeous necklace! Do the same when you’re sitting, plus add squeezing your gluteal muscles in the buns  together. Try it….feel taller and less compressed in the midsection? I do! Keep at it throughout the day and all of these little moves will contribute to fabulous posture and what I call your “DDM: Daily Dose of Movement”!