MOVE: November 2012

Moving Through A Stressful Season...

Over the past few weeks, our area of the world (the Tri-State) area has been under incredible stress at the hands of Hurricane Sandy.  And although restoration efforts are well underway with many of us actively involved professionally or as volunteers, before we know it we’ll jumping right into the holiday season.  With all that’s going on, it’s almost too easy to forget about health, and put our training routine on the back burner.  For those of us fortunate enough to be working on restoration rather than needing restoration, we may find ourselves going from working around the clock, to late nights shopping and getting the house back in order for the holidays.  Our bodies and minds will continue to be stressed and tired, and less than ideal food choices will seem to be just what the body is craving.....and exercise?...well, the odds seem to be against it.  So what can we do to prevent a health and fitness regression now and throughout the upcoming holidays?

The formula might sound familiar!  IT STARTS WITH A PLAN!  Take a good hard look in the mirror, and determine where things stand, and what lies ahead.  Any good macro training plan is periodized with time to push and peak, and time to just maintain.  For many, when life gets busy and stressful, and assuming you’re not needing to peak (for a fitness or performance goal), it’s best to consider how best to maintain.  

For the general population, with general health goals, it’s critical that we focus on keeping the heart healthy, and according to the American College of Sports Medicine, as little as 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week can help one maintain / improve cardiovascular health and fitness.  That’s only about 10 minutes per day!  Keep in mind that vigorous exercise also has shown to be beneficial in managing stress (maybe one of the MOST beneficial ways)!

Give the following, equipment-less, exercise routines a try and let us know how you do!  Just remember, “maintenance” is only one phase...come the New Year or as life settles, get ready to start building again!

1. 10 minutes up and down the stairs at work

2. 10 minute ladder
1. 10 push-ups, 10 jumping jacks, 10 crunches
2. 9 push-ups, 9 jumping jacks, 9 crunches
3. 8 push-ups, 8 jumping jacks, 8 crunches
4. 7 push-ups, 7 jumping jacks 7 crunches
5. repeat routine until working all the way down the “ladder” to 1 rep of each

3. 10 minute Total Body Circuit 1
1. 1 min push-ups or to exhaustion
2. 1 minute jump rope
3. 1 minute sit to stand from chair
4. 1.5 minute run
5. 30 seconds rest
6. Repeat