Daily Archives: October 5, 2015

10 tips to exercise safely

Exercising regularly has wide-ranging physical, emotional and social health benefits. You need to exercise safely to remain healthy and injury-free. If it’s safe and painless, you’re more likely to stick to it! Safety is about using common sense, understanding basic techniques and listening to your body.

See your doctor for a check-up before embarking on a physical activity program. Your doctor, physiotherapist or local sporting club can offer you tips about staying safe while exercising.

Here are some tips to stay safe and injury-free:

  1. Be aware of your body – Think about how the particular exercise is making you feel. If something doesn’t feel right, stop immediately.
  2. Warm up and cool down – Try slow stretches and go through the motions of your sport or activity before starting. Cool down with slow stretching.
  3. Pace yourself – Have at least one recovery day each week to rest. If you are experiencing pain, rest until the pain has gone.
  4. Mix it up – Try other sports and exercises to reduce the risk of overtraining.
  5. Strap or tape – If a joint is prone to injury, consider strapping or taping it before exercising. Even better, see an exercise physiologist or physiotherapist to obtain a program to strengthen the injured area and get advice on proper taping techniques.
  6. Stay hydrated – You can lose around one and a half litres of fluid for every hour of exercise; so drink water before, during and after a session.
  7. Be weather aware – Take it easier in hot weather and wear clothing and sunscreen to protect yourself from the elements.
  8. Do it right – Try to get the technique right from the beginning, to ensure you are using your muscles correctly. Don’t try to over exercise or over stretch when you are not ready. Practice makes it perfect so if you do it regularly, you will be able to do all your postures correctly eventually.
  9. Check your gear – Make sure your shoes and equipment fit properly and are right for the activity. Look after your equipment and check it regularly for safety.
  10. Be sensible – especially at night or in secluded areas. Take a friend or your dog, stick to well-lit areas and wear bright or light-reflective clothing so drivers can see you..

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25 Easy Ways To Fit in 10 minutes

Around the House

1. When you go outside to pick up your morning newspaper, take a brisk 5-minute power walk up the street in one direction and back in the other.

2. If you’re housebound caring for a sick child or grandchild, hop on an exercise bike or do a treadmill workout while your ailing loved one naps.

3. Try 5 to 10 minutes of jumping jacks. (A 150-pound woman can burn 90 calories in one 10-minute session.)

4. Cooking dinner? Do standing push-ups while you wait for a pot to boil. Stand about an arm’s length from the kitchen counter, and push your arms against the counter. Push in and out to get toned arms and shoulders.

5. After dinner, go outside and play tag or shoot baskets with your kids and their friends.

6. Just before bed or while you’re giving yourself a facial at night, do a few repetitions of some dumbbell exercises, suggests exercise instructor Sheila Cluff, owner and founder of The Oaks at Ojai and The Palms, in Palm Springs, CA, who keeps a set of free weights on a shelf in front of her bathroom sink.

While Waiting

7. Walk around the block several times while you wait for your child to take a music lesson. As your fitness level improves, add 1-minute bursts of jogging to your walks.

8. Walk around medical buildings if you have a long wait for a doctor’s appointment. “I always ask the receptionist to give me an idea of how long I have left to wait,” Cluff says. “Most are usually very willing to tell you.”

9. While your son or daughter plays a soccer game, walk around the field.

10. Turn a trip to a park with your child into a mini-workout for you. Throw a ball back and forth and run for fly balls.

At Work

11. Walk to work if you can. “I walked to work for months, 1½ miles each way,” says Mary Dallman, PhD, professor of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, and she really saw results.

12. If you dine out on your lunch hour, walk to a restaurant on a route that takes you a little bit out of your way.

13. If you have a meeting in another building, leave 5 or 10 minutes early (or take some time afterward), and do some extra walking.

14. On breaks, spend 5 to 10 minutes climbing stairs.

15. If you’re pressed for time and must wait for an elevator, strengthen your core with ab exercises. Stand with your feet parallel and your knees relaxed. Contract the muscles around your belly button. Then elevate your upper torso, and release. Finally, contract your buttocks for a few seconds.

16. Use a ringing phone as an excuse to stretch your back. Stand with your feet astride. Imagine that you are encased in a plaster cast from your waist to your head. Gently tilt the lower part of your pelvis backward. Contract your abdominal muscles. Then gently tilt your pelvis forward.

When You’re Watching TV

17. Put away your remote and change channels the old-fashioned way—by getting up and walking to the television set.

18. Dance as if you were 16 again. Put on a music program or MTV. Then dance like crazy, advises Peg Jordan, PhD, RN, author of The Fitness Instinct. “Free yourself to think of movement as something that you have a right to do,” she says.

19. During commercials, jog in place. A 150-pound woman can burn up to 45 calories in 5 minutes. Or try our Couch-Potato Workout.

20. Do leg exercises and lifts with small weights while you watch The Weather Channel, cooking shows, movies, or the news.

While Traveling

21. Pack your sneakers and a fitness DVD. Call ahead to make sure your room has a DVD player. If it doesn’t, ask to rent one from the hotel.

22. If you’re traveling by car, stop twice a day for short, brisk walks and some stretching.

23. During layovers at airports, avoid the mechanized “moving carpets” that transport travelers from concourse to concourse. “If you’re in between flights, walk around the concourse as much as you can,” suggests Cluff.

24. Book a hotel room between the fifth and eighth floors, then ignore the elevator. Better yet, take two stairs at a time. (Check with the hotel first because for security reasons some hotels do not allow guests to use stairs except for emergencies.)

25. Do calf stretches while riding in elevators.

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How to Maintain Good Eye Health

Don’t take your eyes for granted. Protect your sight with these six tips:

1. Eat for Good Vision
Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration and cataracts, studies show. Regularly eating these foods can help lead to good eye health:

  • Green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards
  • Salmon, tuna, and other oily fish
  • Eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources
  • Oranges and other citrus fruits or juices
  • Eating a well- balanced diet also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which makes you less likely to get obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults.

2. Quit Smoking
Smoking makes you more likely to get cataracts, optic nerve damage, and macular degeneration. If you’ve tried to quit smoking before and started smoking again, keep trying. The more times you try to quit smoking, the more likely you are to succeed.

3. Wear Sunglasses
The right kind of sunglasses will help protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.

  • Too much UV exposure makes you more likely to get cataracts and macular degeneration.
  • Choose sunglasses that block 99% to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays. Wraparound lenses help protect your eyes from the side. Polarized lenses reduce glare when driving.
  • If you wear contact lenses, some offer UV protection. It’s still a good idea to wear sunglasses for more protection, though.

4. Use Safety Eyewear

  • If you work with hazardous or airborne materials on the job or at home, wear safety glasses or protective goggles every time.
  • Certain sports such as ice hockey,  can also lead to eye injury. Wear eye protection (such as helmets with protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses) to shield your eyes.

5. Look Away From the Computer Screen
Staring at a computer screen for too long can cause:

  • Eyestrain
  • Blurry vision
  • Trouble focusing at a distance
  • Dry eyes
  • Headaches
  • Neck, back, and shoulder pain

Taking the following steps to protect your eyes:

  • Make sure your glasses or contact lens prescription is up-to-date and adequate for computer use.
  • Some people may need glasses to help with contrast, glare, and eye strain when using a computer.
  • Position your computer so that your eyes are level with the top of the monitor. This allows you to look slightly down at the screen.
  • Try to avoid glare on your computer from windows and lights. Use an anti-glare screen if needed.
  • Choose a comfortable, supportive chair. Position it so that your feet are flat on the floor.
  • If your eyes are dry, blink more.
  • Every 20 minutes, rest your eyes by looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds. At least every 2 hours, get up and take a 15-minute break.

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