Stay Healthy
& Reduce Stress… Small Pieces at a Time
By Jen Nagle, M.Ed.
Assistant Director for Fitness and Wellness
With
a new school year starting, it's easy to get caught up in assignments,
late nights at the office, deadlines, meetings, etc, while finding little
time to take care of yourself. This year put your best foot forward
with easy ways to add exercise into your daily life and reduce stress.
We
use to hear that in order to get in shape and stay lean and healthy,
you had to put in at least twenty to thirty minutes in on the treadmill,
three to five days a week. While this is not a poor suggestion, it can
be misleading. What researchers have now found is that you can break
that time up over the course of a day. By exercising you not only build
a stronger heart and leaner muscles, you are also helping to reduce
stress and increase your overall mood.
Researchers
at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona found that, "as
little as ten minutes of moderate exercise daily can improve mood and
reduce fatigue" (Health Psychology, 2001). "These results complement
current recommendations which suggest that to experience positive fitness
and health benefits, normal adults should participate in a total of
thirty minutes of moderate physical exercise daily, accumulated in short
bouts throughout the day," Cheryl J. Hansen of Northern Arizona University
concludes (Health Psychology, 2001).
There
are several easy ways to accumulate thirty minutes of exercise into
your day. Read the following and decide which forms of exercise would
work best for you:
