Get Moving!

Table of Contents

3 ................................................ Welcome
4 ................................................ Introduction
5 ................................................ Your Fitness Level
6 ................................................ First Steps to Active Health
7, 8 ............................................ Getting Started
9, 10 .......................................... Step 1- Cardio-respiratory Activities
11-13 ......................................... Step 2- Flexibility Activities
14, 15 ........................................ Step 3- Strengthening Activities
16-18 ......................................... Step 4- Balancing Activities
19. ............................................. How to Stay Motivated
20, 21 ........................................ Tips for Success
22, 23 ........................................ Safety Tips

Welcome!

Physical activity (anything that gets the body moving) is necessary for health and well-being.
It has gained national attention; it is the compliment to a good diet--for everyone.
First of all, consider your ultimate goal in everyday living -- to maintain your independence!
Begin by thinking about reducing or limiting the amount of time you sit each day.
Walk about the house (avoid the kitchen, though) every hour if your are prone to sitting a lot.
Here you are going to receive guidance on beneficial activity . . .

What Exercise Activity are You Doing Each Week?
How Many Minutes Do You Invest in Regular Exercise?
Is Your Exercise Aerobic, of Moderate or of Vigorous Intensity?
For most people, light daily activities such as shopping, cooking, or doing the laundry falls under light exercise. Why? Your body isn't working hard enough to get your heart rate up.
Moderate-intensity aerobic activity means you're working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. One way to tell is that you'll be able to talk, but not sing the words to your favorite song. Here are some examples of activities that require moderate effort:
·        Walking fast
·        Doing water aerobics
·        Riding a bike on level ground or with few hills
·        Playing doubles tennis
·        Pushing a lawn mower
Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity means you're breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. If you're working at this level, you won't be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. It is approximately twice as challenging as moderate intensity exercise, such as jogging, swimming laps, riding a bike on rough terrain or hills.

What Is Your Fitness Level?

If you want to get serious, go here - Mayo Clinic
Find out with this online Cooper test calculator, then come back

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC ) provides us with guidelines about frequency and duration of exercise. Those are the minimum guidelines. With your health care provider's approval you should challenge your body incrementally to gain the strength and agility you are capable of.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) provides two walking toolkits, Walk this Way! and Walk the Talk!, "as part of its commitment to support the U.S. Surgeon General's landmark national call to action to promote walking and walkable communities. The toolkits contain a variety of resources designed to help create a culture of health that values and supports walking as a fundamental physical activity." Download it today!

Once your physician has said it’s OK to start a physical activity program, you are ready to begin the First Step to Active Health program.

FirstSteps to Active Health

is an excellent Physical Activity program for building and maintaining flexibility and strength.
Here is how you can set your best foot forward . . .

Getting Started

Increasing your physical activity level can be relatively easy, if you know how. One easy way is to incorporate physical activity into your normal routines like walking rather than driving, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking the car further away from the store. There are several steps to getting started with a more structured physical activity program.

Download the First Step Assessment Form from the Documents List on LivingSmart website and review the functional task checklist.

Keep track of your activity using an ACTIVITY LOG (PDF)

Getting Started . . .

1.   While it is generally not necessary to see a health care provider before beginning every-day physical activities that are of light or moderate intensity, we encourage you to talk with your health care provider about your health and exercise as part of your regular visits.
2.   Test your physical limitations with the First Step Assessment Form (previous page) and review the functional task checklist. Mark those tasks that you have relative difficulty performing. Next, check the activities that are very important for your daily living.
3.   Set your goals. Once you have identified your limitations, you can determine which physical activities are most important for you to perform. Your goals should be based on your limitations noted above as well as your own preferences. You should write your goals down on the chart by listing at least 5 of the specific functional tasks you need to improve. Once you have your goals listed, you need to give yourself a reasonable timetable for achieving them.
4.   Develop your physical activity program. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the following components of any exercise program, particularly for older adults:
o   Incorporate moderate activities for a goal of 30 minutes, at least 4 days per week
o   Include warm-up & cool down with each workout
o   Perform strengthening activities at least 2 days per week
o   Incorporate balance activities into daily activities

Thus, a well-rounded physical activity program includes aerobic, flexibility, strengthening, and balance activities. The First Step to Active Health program addresses each of these areas, to improve specific functional tasks among older adults by providing a simple 4-step routine to increase physical activity.

Begin with Step 1, Cardiorespiratory/Aerobic activities. Once you are comfortable with activities in Step 1, begin adding some activities from Step 2, Flexibility. As your physical activity routine becomes more consistent, add activities from Step 3 and then Step 4 to your routine. Some people may start and quickly work through all four steps; others may only be able to do one or two steps. While it's ideal to be able to complete each of these components on a weekly basis, simply doing any type of physical activity is better than none!

Read the SAFETY REMINDERS on pp. 22 & 23 of this ebook before starting any physical activity.

Now proceed to Step 1 . . .

Step 1: Cardio-Respiratory Activities

WHY: To improve functional activities such as being able to walk further, faster, or uphill without fatigue or shortness of breath, or to maintain endurance for daily activities and independence. To improve efficiency of the cardiorespiratory system, improve endurance, and decrease in disease & mortality. Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the most important controllable risk factors in death and chronic disease.

WHAT: Use of large muscle groups over prolonged periods in activities that are rhythmic and aerobic in nature. It's most important to do something you enjoy. Walking, hiking, running, stair climbing, swimming, cycling, rowing, dancing, skating, and skiing. Use Borg's Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale below, use a 12-13, "somewhat hard" activity to determine moderate exercise intensity. Those taking heart medication such as beta-blockers should use the exertion scale rather than their heart rate. Start slowly and progress intensity and duration slowly.

WHEN: 3-5 (most) days of the week.

Rate your exertion level:
6-7 - No exertion at all; 8 - Extremely light; 9-10 - Very light; 11-12 - Light; 13-14 - Somewhat hard; 15-16 - Hard (heavy); 17-18 - Very hard; 19 - Extremely hard; 20 - Maximal exertion

Reprinted with permission from G. Borg, 1998, Borg’s Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales, Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 47.

Cardio-Respiratory Activities, cont'd.

WHERE TO START:  (depends on initial fitness level) Begin 2 times per week at 10-15 minutes of a fun, low-level aerobic activity with exertion level of 12-13 ("somewhat hard"). Some research suggests that taking 10,000 steps a day is equivalent to roughly 30 minutes of physical activity per day. Wearing a pedometer can help tell you how many steps you take throughout the day. Therefore, you can choose a more structured program like swimming for 30 minutes or try to incorporate more walking into your daily routines using a pedometer.

HOW TO PROGRESS:  Begin cardio-respiratory activities for 10-15 minutes for 3 days a week. Progress by increasing frequency per week (from 3 to 5), then gradually increase duration for workout from 5 to 10 minutes per week, then progress intensity each week (to maintain exertion level 12-13 "somewhat hard"). As your endurance improves, you will notice you will be able to do more activity at the same intensity.

GOAL:  The goal for healthy adults is to attain a maintenance phase, exercising 4-5 days per week (exertion level 13, "somewhat hard"), for 30 minutes a day, or 10,000 steps most days of the week.

WHEN TO MOVE TO STEP 2: Begin adding flexibility and stretching exercises as soon as possible into your cardio-respiratory exercises as part of your warm-up and cool-down.

LIST OF AEROBIC ACTIVITIES:  Walking, hiking, stair climbing, swimming, cycling, rowing, dancing, skating, skiing, jogging. (Running is not recommended as the first activity for people who are just becoming active; walking and hiking are more appropriate activities to start.)