(Comments/Questions? email: janefinley@yahoo.com..... website: geocities.com/janefinley)
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Your doctor reaches for her prescription pad, scrawls something on the top sheet and hands it to you. She has written a single medicine on the form, but it's a powerful one, capable of helping you prevent heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. "And those are just the big ones," says Phoenix cardiologist Renée Espinosa of the Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona. The prescribed "medicine" is exercise. ---- From the article "RX: Exercise - Getting up, getting active can work medical miracles" by Connie Midey, The Arizona Republic, April 18, 2006
This is the exercise routine I use whether I'm at my winter home in Quartzsite, Arizona or "on the road" in the summer. It is my hope that you will copy this and use it every day wherever you are. (revised 5/6/06)
Ideally you would do aerobics three times a week alternating with weights/conditioning three times a week. (On the weekends, do fun exercise like DANCE, hike, bike, volleyball, swim, etc. The important thing is to stay at your target heart rate for 20 minutes.)
pause between each section to take a deep breath
warm-up: walk 5-10 minutes
stretch: either the aerobic or weight-lifting stretches from the book (i)Stretching(/i) by Bob Anderson (about 10 minutes)
aerobic exercise or weights (25 minutes): At home I do an exercise video (either aerobics or conditioning). Take a heart rate during mid-way through aerobics. Alternate days I do weight-bearing/conditioning exercises with 5 lb. hand weights, exercise bands, or tubes with handles (which I carry with me in my truck). Then about 150 crunches of various kinds (20 each) and some leg work. If I'm on the road and near a YMCA or gym, I do an aerobics class or the weight-bearing machines like Nautilus (every other day). Otherwise, first thing when I wake up, I do aerobics to a variety of great tapes alternating days with the weight-bearing/conditioning routine -- preferably in some beautiful, outdoor park. A great way to start the day!
cool down: (walk 5-10 minutes)
stretch: Bob Anderson has a shortened version of the ones done at the beginning.
deep breathing (3-part breath) and relaxation to music*
Total Time: less than an hour.
Finish off the day with an evening walk (10 minutes the first week, 20 the next, 30 the third). Walking is more than exercise. It's enjoying nature, meeting neighbors, calming, etc.
NOTES on the above:
*relaxation (to music):
- relaxing each part of the body (e.g., "relax the bottoms of your feet")
- tensing/releasing each part of the body (e.g. "squeeze your hands")
- guided visualization
- visit a favorite place (no words)
- clear the mind using the blue sky and cloud technique (no words)
- clear the mind by closing eyes and focussing on the white light (no words)
- clear the mind by counting the breath: 4 counts in, 8 counts out (no words)
- focus on the candle (no words)
WHAT TO BRING:
a large floor mat
water (1/2 cup every 15 minutes suggested)
hand weights
GOOD aerobic shoes
comfortable, loose clothing
Don't eat within two hours of working out; use liquids like fruit juice or a blender breakfast if short on time.
I highly recommend two books: 1) Eight Weeks to Optimum Health by Dr. Andrew Weil is the best book I've found for the lay person. Dr. Weil, who is both an MD and a Naturopath, takes you through a wholistic health program a week at a time, covering every aspect of health in a way that's very easy to understand and follow. Dr. Weil believes in prevention and the least invasive treatment for health problems. 2) Stretching by Bob Anderson includes stretches for every imaginable activitiy: every-day stretches, stretches to use before aerobics and weight lifting, stretches for specific parts of the body, and stretches for every sport. You will want to own these two books!