Adding Seasonal Variety to Your Exercise Routine

Posted on June 17, 2010 at 5:15 PM in Exercise with No Comments »

       It’s that time of year again…when the sunset gets later and later each day (leading up to June 21st which is the summer solstice) and activities move outdoors! This provides a great opportunity to add variety to your fitness routine by getting out of the gym (or the house) and exercising outside. Gone are the days of rushing home from work to savor the last few hours or minutes of daylight and battling bitter cold temperatures while exercising. With the sunset getting closer to 9 pm or later each day, you can enjoy a little “down time” after work and still have plenty of daylight left to get outside and exercise. Here are a few suggestions of what East Tennessee has to offer

 1. Walking/Jogging, Cycling, and Hiking: there are miles and miles of Green ways and hiking trails in Knoxville and the surrounding counties that are perfect for walking/jogging, cycling, and hiking. You can visit http://www.connectwithtn.com/index.php to find the Green ways and hiking trails closest to you. Take advantage of the beauty East Tennessee has to offer that is unique to this part of the country! Use this time of year to get involved in your local walking/jogging community by training for and completing a 5K road event (that’s 3.1 miles for those of us that do not use the metric system). You do not have to be a runner to get involved in a 5K road event; many people walk the courses, too! The Knoxville Track Club, in partnership with many area businesses and organizations, organize 15+ road events per month that are appropriate for any fitness level. You can visit www.ktc.org for a calendar of events and contact and registration information for each road event.

2. Yard Work: this is the time of year where everything grows, blooms, and invites us to spend time outside in our yards and gardens. Patients ask me all the time if they can count their yard work as exercise. It depends on the type of yard work that you are performing and what the physical demands are. If you are push mowing and/or weed eating by hand, you can count these two yard activities toward your exercise time during the day. Other yard activities, such as light to moderate gardening, raking, light trimming, etc all fit into the “activity” category, but should not be the only form of “exercise” you get for your day or week. Push mowing can burn, on average, 400+ calories per hour based on a 145 pound person, so pull out the push mower and offer to mow your neighbor’s yard, too!

3. Swimming, Canoeing, or Kayaking: East Tennessee has miles of rivers and lakes to enjoy this time of year and canoeing or kayaking is a great way to spend your time on the water and exercise too. Swimming is another form of excellent water exercise. Spending time at the pool with friends and family is a great summer activity (not to mention a great way to get relief from the heat and humidity) and you do not have to swim laps to exercise in the pool. Water walking is a fantastic form of cardiovascular exercise that you can do in the shallow end of the pool while you are watching your children or grandchildren play. The water creates resistance that helps get our heart rates up while we are walking in the pool. Walking at a moderately out of breath pace (where you can carry on a conversation, but it is a “labored” conversation) for two sessions of 15 minutes during your day at the pool will meet the American College of Sports Medicine’s exercise recommendation of 30 minutes of exercise a day.

4. Recreational sports such as Soccer, Basketball, Softball, Frisbee, or Golf: There are numerous opportunities to join recreational leagues to play any number of sports or you can go to your local park and participate in these activities on your own. You do not have to be an athlete to reap the benefits of playing basketball or soccer and don’t worry if you’re not the best golfer. The goal is to add variety to your exercise routine and walking the golf course as you play 9 holes of golf or playing a pick-up game of basketball is a great way to exercise!

 As with any outdoor activity, remember to wear sunscreen and remain properly hydrated. Variety is a key to success in maintaining a regular exercise and fitness routine and getting that variety from what each season has to offer is a great way to enjoy each one as it comes!

Rebecca Johnson, Exercise Physiologist, BS, CPT.

Exercise after Weight Loss Surgery

Posted on October 19, 2009 at 1:28 PM in Bariatric Surgery, Exercise, Uncategorized, Weight Loss Surgery with 7 Comments »

If you are just getting started with your journey after weight loss surgery, follow the recommendations that you have been given.

Early on in the journey motivation is high, compliance is great and weight loss is at its peak. Later on, as weight loss slows (naturally), daily routine takes priority, old habits can gradually creep back in at times and exercise may even dwindle somewhat. If this seems to be happening with you, think back to what motivated you to have surgery and write down the goals that you had at that time. See how many of them you have accomplished and see which ones are yet to be realized. Maybe even set new goals.

Your number one goal was probably to get healthy. The second one was probably to lose weight, or maybe it was a combination of the two; to get healthier and lose weight. If your goal was to get healthy, realize that the only way to get healthy is to eat healthy foods most of the time (a great majority of the time) and to exercise regularly, get quality sleep, manage stress, and do things that make you happy. Make sure that you set yourself up to be successful at eating the right amount of foods and the right types of foods that have been recommended to you. In addition, make sure that you are making time to exercise five or more days per week.

Sometimes things happen that interfere with your routine, but do not let this interference become a long term hindrance to exercise. You have to figure out for yourself how you can make your circumstances allow for regular exercise and healthy eating. Use an exercise record sheet to stay on track and a food journal for your diet as needed. For example, if your work schedule changes and you have to work overtime and this is cutting into your exercise time, don’t quit, modify your exercise routine and do what you can as often as you can until your schedule permits returning to your old routine. Remember 10 minutes of vigorous exercise is better than none and you can always divide your total exercise time between two different sessions throughout the day. For example, if your goal is to exercise for 30 minutes each day, but there are several days where you do not have 30 minutes at once to exercise, complete two 15-minute sessions with appropriate intensity and you will have 30 minutes of exercise for the day. When you are sick you need to rest, but during that time continue to use your record sheet and document that you are sick. Return to more exercise as tolerated.

Make it happen. Be healthy. Be fit.