Maintaining an active lifestyle does not come easy. This is especially the case since most job positions have become sedentary. To make matters worse, employers push email and phone as the inter-office form of communication, so you no longer can check with Debbie whether her project is ready. Also, you no longer can chat with John while you make copies. Why? Well, you have to email Debbie instead of walking to her desk and you save copies electronically, instead of walking down the hall to use the office copier. Subsequently, you stop being active Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. Unfortunately, this has become the new world we live in as a result of new technological inventions. However, this does not have to be your life. You can still find ways to stay active. In my blog I will share such ways.

Importance of Fitness

Fitness is important for various reasons. For one, by staying fit we are less likely to gain weight. Preventing unnecessary weight gain is beneficial to our health. Second, fitness plays a role in our energy levels. When we spend too much time being inactive, we start to feel sluggish. The sluggishness then leads to more inactivity that can cause weight gain that subsequently produces other chronic illnesses. Therefore, it is important to find ways to stay active and to do so throughout the day.

Components of Fitness

Some ways to stay active can include walking, biking, swimming, climbing, lifting weights, as well as stretching and performing yoga. There are five components to physical fitness, which include cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition (ACE, 2019).

Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Cardiorespiratory endurance involves performing large-muscle dynamic exercises for prolonged periods at a moderate to high intensity level (ACE, 2019). A great example would be taking a brisk nature walk for 30 to 45 minutes. Some other examples include climbing stairs, swimming, or riding a bike for 30 to 60 minutes depending on the type of terrain. For instance, if the bike trail consists of a lot of inclines, then 30 minutes would be considered sufficient. However, if the trail is relatively flat, then you will want to go for 45-60 minutes. I do want to note that the amount of cardiovascular activity does depend on your fitness level. For instance, if you are a beginner, then you will want to take it easy and maybe split the 30 minutes of exercise into 10-minute segments. I will go more into this topic in my later posts.

Muscular Endurance & Muscular Strength

Muscular endurance consists of the ability to hold a contraction while muscular strength has to do with the muscle’s ability to exert force (ACE, 2019). For instance, holding a plank for 30 seconds would be considered muscular endurance. On the other hand, lifting a heavy weight with few repetitions would be viewed as muscular strength.

Flexibility

Flexibility is associated with the ability to move a joint through the intended range of motion (ACE, 2019). This is important because it plays a big role in performing exercises. Being unable to move the joint through its intended range of motion during yoga would be associated with lacking flexibility. Consequently, the inability to move a joint to its full range of motion can lead to a cumulative injury cycle (McGill & Montel, 2017).

Such injuries can even occur when we are doing simple day-to-day tasks such as bending down to pick up a box or turning to the side to reach for an item behind us. I recall a time when I had poor flexibility and as a result pulled my back while reaching for a box on a shelf. The back injury was so severe that I had to lower my activity and avoid the gym while I waited for my back to heal. Therefore, it is imperative that we commit some time in doing flexibility exercises.

Body composition

Body composition is the relative amount of fat and lean body mass that make up the total body weight (ACE, 2019). The body composition can be evaluated with the help of the body composition assessment by utilizing a skin-fold method (McGill & Montel, 2017). A personal trainer would be able to perform such an assessment, as well as a family member with the right tool and some guidance from a personal trainer.

Conclusion

The above mentioned five components play a role when we exercise as well as in our everyday movements. For instance, these five components come into action when taking a seat, walking to the car, lifting boxes, or reaching for something from your car seat. Therefore, being active is not only important to maintain your health, but also to gain a better ability to navigate through your daily tasks. I encourage you to navigate through the Fitness link and read on about all the different ways that you can stay active.

Tips to Stay Active

1. After each meal, take short walks around the block. This will not only re-energize you, but it will help you build more active habits.
2. Instead of parking close to the building, park further away. By parking further away, you will put in some extra steps.
3. If your work or apartment building have stairs, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Stairs are a great way to burn some additional calories.
4. Stay hydrated while at work, which means more bathroom breaks. You do not want to sit at your desk too long without stretching your feet.
5. Take your kids to the playground and kick the ball around with them.
6. Re-arrange your furniture in the house.
7. Do you have weeds growing in your garden? Plucking weeds and doing yard work is a great way to stay active. Cleaning and reorganizing your home will also get you moving.
8. Instead of letting your dog out in the back yard to do his business, take him for a walk.
9. Wash your car at home if you can, instead of going to the car wash.
10. If you have a beach close by, go see the sunset and stay for a short walk.
11. Invest in a bike or some other sports equipment and make it a habit to use it at least weekly.
12. While you are watching your favorite show, do some squats or push-ups.
13. Do you love to create your own meals, next time you are cooking, put some music on and get dancing.
14. If you have the time, join a yoga studio and get working on your stability.

References:

American Council on Exercise. (2019). The professional’s guide to health and wellness coaching: Empower transformation through lifestyle behavior change. ACE.

McGill, E. & Montel, I. (2017). NASM essentials of personal fitness training. (5^th Ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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