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It’s another new year, which some see as an opportunity to change their behaviour and incorporate healthy new habits into their daily lives. Can you relate? Have you set a new year’s resolution to, for instance, join a gym and get fit? When I used to teach group fitness classes, I’d often see a bump in attendance figures at the beginning of a new year.
Instead of new healthy habits, I’m pausing a long-standing habit. This new year, I’m taking a break from exercise. You can too and still feel good about yourself and your physical wellbeing.
Let me explain. Although I’m not exercising per se, I’m still staying physically active. How is it that possible, you ask?
Physical activity is not an all-or-nothing thing. In fact, physical activity lies on a continuum, from NEAT to elite. Let me break it down with a few definitions first.
Physical activity encompasses all activities, at any intensity, including exercise. What’s the alternative to exercise? NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or incidental activity. NEAT is all the ways your body burns energy that is not eating, sleeping, or dedicated exercise.
NEAT relates to moving about in daily life. Our bodies need both exercise and non-exercise activity, but much of that non-exercise activity has been lost to technology and labour-saving devices.
So, you see, I’m taking a break from exercise, but I’m still moving lots every day. My exercise break isn’t permanent; it’s just a temporary pause while I recover from an injury. I’m still staying physically active with lots of NEAT/incidental activity, because I know that all activity leads to benefits for both physical and mental health. That’s because I don’t live to exercise; I exercise to live. And I want to live a long time.
If you’re not up to joining a gym this month, if you don’t want to live to exercise, you don’t need to. Let’s reframe physical activity: All exercise is movement, but not all movement is exercise. No special equipment, change of clothing, fancy exercise sequences, or location changes are required to just get off your butt and move more. If you move more, you will feel better. Guaranteed. Want more tips to help you incorporate non-exercise activity into your life? Check out my first book, Move More: Your Life Depends On It.
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![]() Do you have a desk-based job? Are you a professional sitter? The knowledge-based economy means that many adults sit at their desks and in meetings for hours at a time every day. Productivity, profit, and professionalism lead people to remain seated at all times. But we're not in an airplane, and there is no turbulence (hint: you can get up and move about the cabin). This physical inactivity is prematurely aging our mostly sedentary bodies when we sit at a desk all day. It is killing us. Being sedentary for too long impacts your entire body—your brain feels sluggish, your joints hurt, your muscles stiffen, and your mood turns generally gloomy. I think we can all agree that it’s difficult to be a productive person when you feel like that. What can you do to address it? Here's a simple exercise that you can easily incorporate into your busy workday: Active Sitting.* ![]() Active sitting helps us engage our muscles, strengthen our bones, and improve our posture. Instead of outsourcing the role of our muscles by slumping in our seats, we should sit tall. Aim for five minutes of active sitting every hour. To start: Begin by sitting in a chair that has a firm seat. Shifting forward: Sit up straight in your chair. You can slide your bottom forward so you’re not leaning back in the chair, or place your bottom right at the back of the seat with a tall back. Place both feet flat on the floor in front of you. If your legs are shorter and you can’t touch the floor, you can place a large book or block on the floor to support your feet. Don’t roll onto your tailbone. Imagine you have a tail and you want the tail behind you so you can wag it. Often, people roll backwards so they’re resting on their tailbone instead of their sit bones—these are the bony part of your bum, the lower edge of your pelvis. Shoulder position: Drop your shoulders away from your ears. It should feel like you're letting them slide down your back. Head position: Pull your head and neck back so your ears are sitting over your shoulders, not pushed forward. Your head is now positioned over your centre of gravity, which is allowing you to strengthen your bones by loading them. Feel your muscles and bones at work. Want more ideas for exercise options at work? Check out Sweat-Free Exercises for the Office. Content excerpted from "Sweat-Free Exercises for the Office", book 2 in the series Workplace Wellness Through Physical Activity by Amanda Sterczyk, copyright 2021, all rights reserved. ![]() As we age, it's not just our muscles that need daily care and feeding. "Use it or lose it" applies just as much to our brains as to the rest of our real estate south of the cerebellum. Have you ever heard the term neuroplasticity? It has to do with our grey matter's ability to continually develop and adapt over our lifetime. Working on creating these new pathways can help reduce the risk of dementia. As with many chronic health conditions, making healthy behaviour choices every day goes a long way to improving life for our future selves. You know: prevention is key. Several of the recommendations to create new pathways and maintain brain health figure prominently in my balance and fall prevention exercise guides. The first, of course, are the exercises themselves. Even a minute of movement and physical activity counts towards rewiring your noodle. But there’s more. You see, I created simplified illustrations to accompany the detailed step-by-step instructions, so you have to work harder to understand the exercise. That’s because learning details of the exercise sequence in writing is like learning a new language, which is a second key recommendation to improving brain health. You’ve spent a lifetime moving your body about without thinking too much about how to move it. When you slow down to read how to complete the exercise and then apply that learning, you’re strengthening both your muscles and your brain. Finally, the exercise instructions include a visualization cue: “Your feet are a seesaw, moving up and down in a controlled fashion.” Visualizing how to move is yet another way your brain is staying strong and healthy. Give yourself a hearty pat on the back if you’re doing at least one of these brain-boosting activities. And if you’re doing all three, that’s even better! Try this at home: Below you’ll find an example of the exercise instructions, illustration, and visualization cue from my upcoming 10th book, Chair Exercises for Fall Prevention. ![]() I’m a polio survivor in her early seventies and have had seven decades to accumulate knowledge about how to take care of a body that may pose problems—which could be anyone’s body, not just that of a person with a disability. I have a fully paralyzed foot, a partially paralyzed leg, which is two inches shorter, smaller and much weaker than my stronger leg. I have resultant canal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal and disc pinching) from my limp, and arthritis in a few places. I’m also a breast cancer survivor (seventeen years cancer free!). I’ve travelled all over the world, used to dance for fun, I still garden, and have done probably more than I should have in this life, and now in my—what are these? Golden years? Ha!—I’m learning to take things a little easier but still not just sit around and get fat. Well, a little fat, okay. I do not consider myself heroic and hate being called a hero. I am simply dealing with whatever I have to—just like you. My second book, No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability was recently published. It’s full of travel tips, life hacks, care tips, suggestions for family on how to adapt to someone whose body is changing, and is definitely not just for “crips.” It’s for anyone who’s beginning to have any kind of mobility issue, and for the people who love us. Here's an excerpt:
Okay, so here they are—my practical, and not magic, fixes:
Genes matter, and you can’t do anything about those. But you have control over all of the above. I know it’s probably all stuff you know already, but here it is, all in one place!” I do floor yoga every morning. I know that some people cannot get up and down from the floor, so chair yoga or other stretching works (or see one of Amanda’s books!). I have made it a point to have a “standup” routine, since I am more at risk of falling. I do stretches for twenty to forty minutes and have far less pain and stiffness than when I skip my yoga. I also do a pool therapy workout for about a half hour to ninety minutes, three to five times a week, all year long. This gives me a light aerobic workout plus more stretching, and includes walking (the water helps hold you up; for me, it’s actually easier than walking on land; my weaker leg doesn’t do much in the support department), leg and arm stretches, kicks suspended on a noodle in the deep end, swimming laps, and more. If I don’t do both of these routines regularly I start to have back pain, and I can manage this with the right combo of regular stretching and swimming. Given I can’t go for walks, I use a folding, lightweight mobility scooter both to tool around the neighborhood, go to places out of my ability range with friends, and also to travel. It’s a great little trike for airports, city sidewalks, and flat pathways through parks. So I don’t miss out on much. I do need to keep a balance between eating and resting. I need to lie down in the afternoon for a bit several times a week, and am not supposed to fatigue myself (a big issue with older polio survivors), so because I do less standing and walking than others, I try to watch my diet. Simple carbs tend to be my downfall, especially chips or popcorn. But I step on a scale regularly and try not to let my body mass index get high. I don’t want late-life heart disease or diabetes! When you start to get aches and pains, or find that you fatigue more than you did when you were younger, I encourage you to look out the window, keep moving, and imagining your best future. If you lose a beloved activity, find another one that is easier. Say yes to invitations, just ask those who love you to adjust to your new normal. “I may be no spring chicken, but I ain’t ready for the soup!” as my friend Annie said in a song she wrote. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in Los Angeles and having lived nearly all of her life in northern California, Francine Falk-Allen had polio in 1951 at age 3, was hospitalized for 6 months, and lived most of her life as a handicapped person trying to be a “normie.” Despite her partially-paralyzed leg and severe limp, Francine has traveled the world. She also appeared in the Nobel Prize/PBS documentary, “The War Against Microbes,” as the only representative of a disease now eradicated by a vaccine. Her first book Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability—A Memoir, won gold and silver awards and was on several best books lists in 2018 and 2019. Her newest book, No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability, has also received the Kirkus star, given to only 10% of the books reviewed in Kirkus Reviews. Francine resides in Marin County with her husband, and spends a significant amount of time managing the effects of post-polio. She also facilitates a polio survivors’ group, as well as a writing group, Just Write Marin County and sits on the City of San Rafael ADA Accessibility Committee. She loves the outdoors, swimming, gardening, British tea, and a little champagne now and then. Visit Francine's website for more information on ordering books. ![]() What a strange year it has been. A once-in-a-century pandemic has uprooted the entire planet, the toll to human life staggering. No one has been unaffected by the events of the past year, including me. Here’s a brief glimpse into the past year, from a recovering fitness professional. Shortly before the world got turned upside down, I began a new chapter in my life. My fitness business of more than a decade was shelved in favour of a full-time job for a health charity. If you’ve read my fitness memoir, I Can See Your Underwear, or even the excerpt I shared one year ago, you’ll know that I was feeling burnt out from focusing on other people’s fitness goals, at the expense of my own. That’s what partly precipitated my retirement from being a fitness entrepreneur—I needed to put my goals first. The office job was a way to reclaim my evenings and weekends—punch a clock and contribute when at the office, while focusing on myself during my down time. I even managed to find a job that allowed me to engage in active transportation—the office was a 40-minute walk in each direction, a 19-minute bike ride when the snow finally melted. And then it happened—seven days in to my new role, everyone who could was instructed to work from home until further notice. [Spoiler alert: one year later, we’re still awaiting details on the return-to-the-office plans. Thankfully, none of us have been holding our breath.] Overnight, my commute became much shorter—eight steps from the kitchen to my desk, eighteen steps from there to the bathroom. The line between home and work blurred for many, myself included. I spent many more hours in a seated position, and it didn’t take long for my body to protest. You’ve heard of the Freshman 15? Well, I acquired the COVID 19. All that extra sitting began wreaking havoc on my now-larger frame. Another lockdown during the worst of the winter months meant that, in addition to being more sedentary that I ever have, I was also less physically active. That’s when the pain started. It began with foot pain in my left foot, then in my right foot, followed by low back pain and excruciating hip pain. Some targeted physiotherapy treatments helped, as well as a gentle reminder from my physio to do daily stretches. I began with a few minutes of stretching when things started acting up. The stretching helped and I was thankful I could draw on my fitness background for my own needs. And yet, my problems with pain persisted, even worsened. Until, that is, I went back to my roots. You see, it was a love of the very popular PBS fitness show Classical Stretch that opened me up to a career in fitness. I first discovered Classical Stretch on a snowy winter’s day in late 2001. I practiced it on and off throughout the decade, always feeling better after the 22-minute full-body rebalancing it provided. I jumped into the fray, beginning instructor training in early 2010. One thing that happens when you’re a group fitness instructor is that every workout you do is focused on your clients’ needs. But now, back to doing my own workouts in my living room—often in my pjs—I could focus once again on my own needs. And boy, did I need a full-body rebalancing! After a decade as a teacher, I was experiencing a renaissance as a student. And practicing what I often preached: the best exercise for you is the one you enjoy. Because if you like it, you’re more likely to do it. So I’m back to tried-and-true 22-minute workouts in the comfort of my own home. And my body thanks me every day. What’s the lesson here? When it comes to exercise, physical activity, and just plain movement, find what you love and keep going. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. *To be clear: the weight gain was due to my constant close contact with the kitchen. I have been eating more than I needed to, from a caloric perspective. My weight gain was food-based, not due to a lack of exercise.
![]() When I last wrote a blog post about exercise, the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning to take hold. None of us knew how long until we could resume our regularly scheduled activities. The "world outside our windows" wasn't so much a scary place, just a really empty place. As we enter the fourth month of restrictions on our movement and activities, many organizations in Ottawa have pivoted to offering online workshops and fitness classes. And I've been recruited to help deliver some of these offerings. So, here's what's on tap in July and August:
Workshops: How Can Seniors Prevent a Fall? As we age, our risk of falling increases, as does the likelihood that a fall will cause an injury. How can we help seniors prevent a fall, maintain their independence, and avoid a hospital visit? Before the time of COVID-19, falls were the leading cause of injury, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations for seniors in North America, and half of all falls happened in the home. What about now? No data has yet been compiled on home-based falls during the pandemic, but the number has likely increased, as seniors have become more housebound as well as more sedentary. Amanda Sterczyk, an independent author and personal trainer, will teach participants about the balance "sweet spot", the complexity of our balance system, and how easy it is to incorporate exercise into their daily lives to improve their balance and prevent falls. There will be three opportunities to join this online workshop: Friday, July 10th, 10:00 am, Ottawa Public Library's Zoom Portal. The session is free but you must register with the library to attend. Monday, July 20th, 2:00 pm, Old Ottawa South Community Association. The session is pay what you can, and you must register with OSCA to attend. (Note: workshop listed as "Balance and Your Body: How Exercise Can Help You Avoid a Fall.") Monday, August 17th, 2:00 pm, Old Ottawa South Community Association. The session is pay what you can, and you must register with OSCA to attend. (Note: workshop listed as "Balance and Your Body: How Exercise Can Help You Avoid a Fall.") Classes: Online Fitness for Seniors There is a three-week series of classes that will be hosted via the Ottawa Public Library's Zoom portal. Each class is free, but also requires registration. If you want to join all three, you'll have to register for each of these classes: Friday, July 17th, 10:00 am, standing exercises Friday, July 24th, 10:00 am, seated exercises Friday, July 31st, 10:00 am, lying down exercises (can be completed on the floor or on a bed) Thursdays at 2:30 pm, MOBA: Stretch with Amanda.* If you're missing classes with me, I've returned to teaching once a week. Please contact me for registration details. *(MOBA = mobility and balance) ![]() When the first cruise ship was quarantined due to an outbreak of COVID-19, news outlets shared footage of passengers wearing face masks while exercising on their private balconies. My first thought was, “Oh, that’s smart of them to keep moving.” As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 increases around the world, more and more people are going to be spending time in isolation. Whether you live in an area that is under quarantine or have chosen to self-isolate for whatever reasons, you can still—and should—be physically active every day. Not sure what to do? Read on and I’ll give you some tips on staying active. But first…
Doctor’s orders. If you are sick and have been advised to not exercise, your doctor’s orders trump mine and any other fitness professional’s advice. It is, after all, a respiratory illness that causes shortness of breath. For the latest updates on COVID-19, visit a trusted source. In Canada, that means listening to Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer, and her team at the Public Health Agency of Canada. “Don’t panic.” Those are the words on the front of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and they are relevant even today. The same principles of healthy living apply even if you can’t leave your current location: eat a healthy diet, stay active, get a good night’s sleep, stay positive (i.e., don’t panic), and maintain contact with friends and family (phone calls, emails, texts, video chats are all great ways to stay connected). All of these factors will help you maintain a strong immune system. Move. Just because you can’t get to the gym or fitness class, you can still get up and move. Here are some tips:
I hope this list helps you to stay active and maintain a positive outlook during these challenging times. Remember: move more, feel better. ![]() After 10 years in the fitness industry, I decided to pack it in. But not before sharing my experiences as a solopreneur (solo entrepreneur). And some funny, some crazy, things that happened to me along the way. Below, you'll find the complete table of contents, as well as an excerpt from the foreword. And if you'd like to order your very own copy, you can pick it up on Amazon. Like I say in the introduction of this, my fourth book, "If I'm being honest, I entered the fitness industry for all the wrong reasons." From the foreword: “Whether you are an avid fitness junkie, weekend warrior, fitness instructor, or just your everyday Joe, there's something for you in this book…As you read through Amanda's journey from beginning to end, you gain inside information and a few laughs you didn't know you needed. So sit down with a cup of coffee and get ready to have a great conversation with a friend. Because that's exactly what this book feels like — a conversation with a friend about real life.” And here's a glimpse at the Table of Contents:
![]() The following excerpt comes from my upcoming fifth book, I Can See Your Underwear: My Journey Through the Fitness World. It's been a decade since I first took the plunge into fitness as a profession. As I look at that experience through the rear-view mirror, I can honestly say that I entered the fitness world for all the wrong reasons. Have I piqued your interest? Read on... Did I Ever Look Like a Fitness Professional?* I have spent many years, decades even, focused on dieting and never being truly happy with my appearance. As I said at the beginning, a huge part of me believed a career in the fitness would accelerate the process of changing my appearance.
It has never once occurred to me to judge someone else based on their appearance. Instead, I look at their character — how they treat me and others. Are they reliable? Do they keep their word? Are they kind to those less fortunate? Yet, when it came to me, I always assumed no one would accept me unless I was skinny and svelte, especially as I transitioned into my new career in the fitness industry. What if clients wouldn’t accept me as a fitness expert because of my appearance? More than once, I heard, “You don’t look like a fitness instructor.” What, exactly, is a fitness instructor meant to look like? People come in all shapes in sizes. Shouldn’t that ring true for individuals, no matter their profession? Rhetorical question. I also heard, “I like taking classes with you because you look like a normal person.” Where does that come from? An unrealistic expectation and representation of everyone in the fitness industry as rake-thin, that’s where. Skinny does not equal fit. There, I said it. A skinny person can be unfit just as easily as someone who is not as skinny. But there’s always been a part of me that doesn’t believe that for myself. Yes, I have a double standard, in that I judge myself more critically than others. Don’t worry, I know I’m not the only one setting up base camp here. The problem is, being in the fitness industry was a constant reminder that my internal voice was judging my fitness, or rather, my unfitness to practice. And our new-found selfie culture doesn’t help. Too many svelte fit pros spend too much time touting their amazing bodies. Or we see the before and after photos of “incredible transformations” of their previously fat clients. The “fitspiration” (fitness inspiration) images on social media imply that you’re better off being skinny and photogenic than being your true self and healthy. My fragile ego has had enough. Even when I was starving and over-exercising to maintain what I thought was the proper form for a fitness professional, I still lacked the confidence to have my picture taken while wearing a swimsuit. The anxiety of not looking the part created a cycle of overeating for me that collided with the start of menopause. I’m sure you know what happened next: a self-fulfilling prophecy of not “looking” like a toned fitness professional. Yes, it was self-sabotage at its worst. But the messages online also said I should look like a ballet dancer, and I’ve always been built like a soccer player. These messages, by the way, came directly from fitness gurus and their most avid followers, including fellow fitness professionals. No wonder I wasn’t able to accept myself — I didn’t feel accepted by fitness colleagues and mentors. *Copyright Amanda Sterczyk 2020, all rights reserved. ![]() Repeat after me: Move more, feel better. Again: Move more, feel better. One more time: Move more, feel better. Is it starting to stick in your brain? That's the slogan I adopted when I created The Move More Institute™ four years ago. It's not "Move more, look better," nor is it "move more, shed fat." It's "Move more, feel better" for a reason. Physical activity guidelines, created and promoted by national organizations in many developed countries, recommend the minimum amount of physical activity your body needs to maintain optimal health. That means how much you need to move to reduce the likelihood of many chronic diseases that will negatively impact your health and shorten your life span. And it's not a lot; we're not talking about living at the gym, we're talking about less than 30 minutes a day. Specifically, 21 minutes and 25 seconds of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. It's an achievable goal, even for the busiest person. Breaking down a 24-hour day: assume you sleep for eight hours, that still gives you 16 hours in which to complete your 21 minutes-and-change of physical activity. And this movement doesn't need to be accomplished in one session; you can accumulate the activity over the course of the day. So if you're strapped for time at work and you're waiting for the elevator, consider taking the stairs. Even one flight of stairs works, and won't render you sweaty for that all-important meeting. If you're running errands, try parking further away and walking briskly to your destination. Or leave your car at home and "walk your errands." ![]() I created these activity clocks to help you audit your day and figure out how you can incorporate more movement into it, without breaking the bank. This is just one component of my movement coaching course. If you are looking for new year's goals that are achievable, try starting out with snacks of exercise. Physical activity doesn't need to be complicated, costly, or even sweaty. But it does need to happen every day. And if you move more, you will feel better. Guaranteed.
My goal for 2020 is to update my website and offer all of my online courses for free. That's my gift to you: help you achieve your movement goals. |
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AuthorAmanda Sterczyk is an international author, Certified Personal Trainer (ACSM), an Exercise is Medicine Canada (EIMC) Fitness Professional, and a Certified Essentrics® Instructor. |