Week 1, we talked about chair exercises. So today I would like to talk about getting up and walking around the house a little bit. So just like we discussed with the chair exercises as you start off standing up during one commercial, then work your way up to where you’re standing up throughout the entire set of commercials.

Walking around the house is the same, starting off by walking back-and-forth from 1 Room to the next several times a day for nothing more than just getting in steps. At first you may only be able to do this once or twice a day extra but as time goes on you’ll be building endurance up and be able to walk from one room to the next to the next and be able to do that several times daily.

When you’re doing this, I don’t want this to be because you’re getting up and walking to the restroom or getting up and going to the kitchen to get a sandwich. I really want these to be extra times so maybe again we use the commercials on TV as you’re watching your favorite show when a commercial comes on, you get up and you walk to the next room and then walk back to your chair. Again, we have to remember that any exercise is better than sitting in the chair all day. As you do these things you set your goals. It’s good to have an overall (long term) goal which might be “I will be able to walk one block without rest “. Now this goal may seem unobtainable at this time. However, as you set your smaller goals in the house your larger goal will over time more attainable. 

My challenge to you with this post will be to set a larger goal. Make sure that this is a goal that is obtainable by you. This goal should be obtainable within months not years.  If you goal is to long it may be easier to give up on it. You have to set your goals in a manner that you know they are something that you can work toward. Because if you’re unable to work toward a goal it will be discouraging. So, set one large goal that is obtainable and then set smaller goals to reach that goal. An example might be by the end of 2 months I will be able to walk down my block and back to my house without rest. Your smaller goals would be week 1 I plan to stand during commercials. Week 2 I plan to walk from 1 room to the other during commercials. Continue your goals until you have reached, your larger goal.

Exercise the 8-letter cussword. Every time we hear somebody say you need to exercise, it’s like a stone thrown right in the gut.   However, I would like to put a bright side on the word exercise. The next time you think about exercise I would like for it to be a more positive approach. Throw all the excuses of why I can’t exercise out the window. We’ve all seen the exercise videos where people are in great shape and their lifting weights, running 100-yard race, all things we are unable to do. However, did you realize that exercise doesn’t have to be all of that.  Did you know sitting in a chair watching TV you use approximately 90 calories for one hour. Now obviously you could eat that 90 calories fairly quickly in a cookie. However, we’re concentrating on what you’re doing and how that impacts the calories that you use.

While sitting in that chair let’s say you decide to stand up during commercials, not only now have you and burnt 90 calories from sitting in a chair, but now you use more calories.  You are using far more calories during the day. The other thing to look at is that by standing up you’re using different muscles therefore those muscles will get stronger and use more calories over time.  If the only thing you can do is to stand up during commercials even if it’s only one, your burning more calories than if you were sitting. You are strengthening you leg muscles, improving your balance. If that is you, then work on doing that, every time a commercial comes on get out of your chair and stand. The average commercial being 30 seconds you would stand there. A week from now you may be able to stand during the entire series of commercials which could be 3 to 4 minutes. It is the small steps that get you to the end goal.

During this time of you trying to improve your health by starting with that small step of standing up during commercials.  I challenge you to consider other things that you might be able to do while you’re sitting in the chair. For example, some years ago, a study was done where one group of folks were asked to close their eyes and to believe that they were lifting a fairly heavy dumbbell. They were asked to do a certain amount of reps and a certain amount of sets. The 2nd group was actually given dumbbells that were a little heavy for them and they were given the exact amount of reps and sets for a specific amount of time.  The end of the study showed that each group gained muscle strength, the group with the dumbbells gained a little more muscle strength. The point of this is sitting in a chair you could pretend to be lifting heavier dumbbells and start with 2 sets of 10 reps that would mean that you would do 2 sets of 10 times bringing your arms from a 90ﾟ up to your shoulder and them back down to the armrest not using anything but your mind to believe that you’re lifting something heavy. If you do this on a regular basis, we could say 3 times a week you will gain some muscle strength.

I challenge you to find something that you can do to improve your health through exercise small steps toward a healthier you.  Make a goal that you want to reach in say 2 months, then set smaller goals to reach each week.  It is easier to reach smaller goals and you will reach that larger goal before you realize.  I will be posting along the way to encourage your progress.