Tag Archives: planking

One Minute Workouts to Break Your All-Or-Nothing Mentality

1-minute-workout

We need 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. It’s a great goal but it can feel unattainable for many people. If you’re new to exercise, jumping from zero to 30 minutes EVERY DAY can feel as daunting as being asked to run a marathon. This is especially true if you have no idea where to start or what to do for those 30 minutes.

Even for experienced exercisers there are days with back-to-back meetings or when the alarm doesn’t go off – again. Exercise can get pushed off the plate to balance out the daily demands on our time. With the holidays upon us, time for workouts becomes even more precious and scarce then usual. Rookie or pro, we can all fall into the “all or nothing” trap.

By the time I drive to the gym, I’ll just have to turn around and come right back. If I can’t get my whole workout in why even bother?

I can’t walk on the treadmill for FIVE minutes, how am I supposed to do 30? Where am I even going to find 30 minutes in my day?

New Book Preview: What You Can, When You Can

If the “all or nothing” mentality is holding you back from getting your daily workout, I’ve got good news for you. The latest research says our minimum dose of exercise may be lower than we once thought. A recent study in the journal Lancet looked at exercise patterns and life expectancy of over 400,000 men and women. They found that as little as 15 minutes a day provided health benefits and reduced all cause mortality. (more…)

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Pamela

Your Anti-Itch Outdoor Survival Guide

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, I consider myself a lover of the outdoors. I enjoyed canoeing, fishing, hiking, and exploring Mother Nature.  With the economy on a downturn, people are going from pricey gym memberships to exercising at parks, hiking and maybe planking on the nearest boulder. Because of this, the most common summer question asked by my patients is how they can stop the itching that is driving them crazy.

Let’s take a step back. How can you prevent the itching in the first place? Here’s the trifecta; the most common things you may run into if you are exercising outside and how to avoid the irritants.

Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac

The best way to avoid poison ivy is to be able to recognize it. It can grow on vines, bushes or be a plant on the ground, and usually has a 3-leaf structure. The oil that causes that itchy, allergic reaction is called urushiol and if you come into contact with it, first thing’s first: wash everything. Rinse your body, clothes, and anything else the urushiol may have touched.

Calamine lotion is a pink liquid that is usually that gold standard for relieving the symptoms of poison ivy. It has a skin protectant and pain reliever that helps to dry up any oozing blisters from the poison ivy. Hydrocortisone cream and antihistamines like Benadryl are other options to help with itching.

(more…)

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Sarah

Impressive Planking Requires Extreme Core Strength

A new viral trend has swept the nation, where mature, upstanding citizens take pictures of themselves laying face-down, motionless and expressionless, on…something. Anything, really. This trend is called “planking”, and while it sounds stupid, lazy and like a waste of time, it is.

I know, I know, they aren’t hurting anything, but I can’t help but roll my eyes that the newest craze in America is to take pictures of yourself not moving. We’ve always been fond of not moving here in the great U.S. of A., but documenting it and putting it on the Internet for all to see is a new development. You can now become a YouTube sensation for being sedentary.

I see the lure, though. While I am used to thinking of planks as a core exercise that actually, literally, makes me angry, as I started scrolling through Google images of planking, I saw some planks that made me laugh, cringe, gasp and scratch my head.

(more…)

Posted on July 21, 2024 by Kelly