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Stress Reducing Strategies

1. When feeling stressed, most people tend to breathe short, shallow breaths. When you breathe like this, stale air is not expelled, oxidation of the tissues is incomplete, and muscle tension frequently results. Check your breathing throughout the day and before, during, and after high-pressure situations. If you find your stomach muscles knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax all your muscles and take several deep, slow breaths.
2. Writing your thoughts and feelings down (in a journal, or on paper to be thrown away) can help you clarify things and can give you a renewed perspective
3. Every day, do something you really enjoy.
4. Focus on understanding rather than on being understood; on loving rather than on being loved.
5. Eliminate destructive self-talk:"I'm too old to. . .," "I'm too fat to. . .," etc.
6. Do one thing at a time. When you are with someone, be with that person and with no one or nothing else. When you are busy with a project, concentrate on doing that project and forget about everything else you have to do.
7. Allow yourself time - everyday - for privacy, quiet, and introspection.
8. Meditate daily.
9. If an especially unpleasant task faces you, do it early in the day and get it over with, then the rest of your day will be free of anxiety.
10. Be grateful for the blessings in your life, the big and the small.
11. Exercise daily.
12. Keep the same bedtime. Let your body and mind get used to a predictable routine. Avoid sleeping in, staying awake for excessive amounts of time, and become aware of your bodies sleep patterns. Make sure that you stop doing mentally demanding work several hours before coming to bed – give your brain time to calm down before you try to sleep.

Healthy Lifestyle Choices

1. Hiking for an afternoon picnic.
2. Volleyball at the beach with friends.
3. Frisbee in the park with a friend.
4. Inline skating through the park or your neighborhood.
5. Always take the stairs, avoid the elevator and the escalator.
6. Ice skating in the winter time.
7. Swimming any time of year.
8. Tobogganing in winter with friends or family.
9. Shovel the snow in winter.
10. Mow the lawn in spring/summer.
11. Gardening.
12. Window shopping.
13. Take a walk during lunch hour.
14. Take your dog for a walk.
15. Take your kids for a walk.
16. Walk the golf course and avoid the cart.
17. Go to the driving range with or without a friend.
18. Take a stretching break regularly throughout the day.
19. Go dancing with friends.
20. Take up martial arts.
21. Play a friendly game of tennis.
22. Play hopscotch with a child.
23. Play a game of tag with your children.
24. Give a friend or a child a piggyback ride.
25. Build a snowman in the backyard in winter.
26. Make snow angels in the snow.
27. Build a fence.
28. Chop wood for the fire.
29. Ride a bike.
30. Try skiing.
31. Shoot hoops or play basketball with friends.
32. Take a soccer ball to the park and practice solo, or play a game with friends.
33. Play a game of catch.
34. Take a walk on the beach.
35. Help a friend move their furniture.
36. Jump on a trampoline.
37. Skip rope.
38. Wash your car.
39. Walk instead of driving.
40. Play at the playground.

Training Basics to Keep in Mind

The Warm-up: Warming up is an essential component to any training program. A warm up prepares the body for exercise. The type of activity to be performed determines the type of warm-up. An effective warm-up will include general as well as specific exercises which relate to the fitness activity. Some of the benefits of warm-up are:

• Increased blood flow to muscles
• Increased oxygen delivery to muscles
• Decreased number of injuries due to increased range of motion
• Decreased stiffness of joints
• Increased cardiovascular response to sudden strenuous exercise

Balance, Stability, Core and Posture: Movement starts from the structural centre of the body. The strength of your centre relies on core, hip and shoulder stability. These three areas create a centre of axis from which you move. It’s impossible to move your limbs efficiently and with force if they are not attached to something stable and strong. This centre strength permits ideal postural alignment:

• Shoulder blades pulled back and down
• Tummy drawn up and in
• Ears in line with your shoulders
• Shoulders in line with your hips
• Hips in line with your knees
• Knees in line with your ankles

Strength: We utilize resistance training to build maximum muscle force, which is a key element for Functional Fitness. When training on your own, there are many ways of providing resistance for strength training, including:

• Free weights (dumbbells, barbells etc.)
• Weight machines
• Rubber tubing and Therabands
• Individual’s own body weight
• Medicine balls
• Swiss Balls
• Plyo Balls

Flexibility and Agility: The ability to move a joint smoothly throughout a full range of motion is integral to good health and mobility. Flexibility can be improved through a variety of exercises and stretching techniques. Agility combines speed, power and coordination to deliver quick movements. When we combine flexibility and agility the result is mobility, or the ability to perform a movement quickly, with good timing and coordination. This mobility is essential for injury prevention. The ability to recover when we stumble, or the ability to catch ourselves before we fall, is the product of flexibility and agility.

Cardio Training: Refers to cardiorespiratory endurance training, or aerobic endurance training which involves activities using large muscle groups at moderate intensities that permit the body to use oxygen to supply energy and to maintain a steady state for more than a few minutes.

Target Heart Rate: the ideal intensity level at which your heart is being exercised but not overworked.

Finding Your Target Heart Rate:

• Subtract your age from 220.
• If you are beginning a fitness program, multiply that number by 60%. If you have been training regularly and are reasonably fit, multiply that number by 70%-80%.
• The resulting number will be your target heart rate.

Keeping Track of Your Heart Rate:

• Manually take your pulse for 10 seconds, after 5 minutes into your cardio workout.
• Multiply that number by 6 to find out how fast your heart is beating per minute.
• You can also invest in a heart rate monitor which calculates for you.

Stretching and Relaxation: Stretching the muscles of the body after exercise is performed for recovery and repair. Through stretching and soft tissue massage, a state of relaxation can be achieved where the body can release tension, resulting in an overall feeling of wellness.