Your Biggest Gift this Holiday Season
The average American gains 5 or more pounds during the holiday season, which makes it important to follow a structured exercise program as quickly as possible during or after the holidays.
A physical therapist can prescribe a structured exercise program for overweight individuals. EXERCISE can help with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
It is recommended that all individuals exercise regularly for optimum health. Several studies show how beneficial regular exercise really is:
- A 2008 study published in Physical Therapy Journal found that when people with type 2 diabetes participated in “aerobic exercise and high-force eccentric resistance exercise”, it helped with glucose control, body fat control, and physical performance.
- A 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength Conditioning demonstrated that exercise was effective for improving bone health in individuals with osteoporosis, a disease that affects more than 200 million people worldwide.
- Did you know that exercise seemed to be one of the few remedies that helped reduce pain for low back pain sufferers? A 2009 study in Spine Journal summarized 20 different clinical trials. It seemed that while many other prevention methods failed, exercise not only helped prevent pain, but also prevent back pain-related loss of workdays.
Your physical therapist can create an exercise plan to help you and your family stay fit and minimize or eliminate the possibility of weight gain (and associated ailments) this holiday season.
STARS is Committed to Your Health
Physical activity is the best way to prevent or combat obesity, diabetes, and other health problems.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines states:
- Children should get 1 hour or more of physical activity a day.
- Adults should get 2 hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or 1 hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity exercise
Physical therapists have an extensive knowledge of pre-existing ailments and their interaction with your exercise program. We can help establish life-long patterns of physical activity. We can come up with a safe program that helps with weight loss, reduce accompanying joint pain, restore flexibility, and increase strength and cardiovascular endurance.
An individualized exercise program may help reduce the need for medications, lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, and help manage glucose levels, among other benefits.
Fitness for Your Family
Do you have a hard time getting your children to be regularly active? Our team has several suggestions to help you and your family incorporate physical activities into your daily lives:
- Plan weekend family activities, like football, hiking, swimming, bicycling, mini-golf, tennis, or bowling.
- Have a “rainy day” game plan of indoor activities involving fitness games for your family such as Wii Fit.
- Don’t have a gym membership? It’s all right. You don’t need fancy equipment to be active. Walking is great exercise. Weights can be easily improvised, using soda or detergent bottles filled with sand or water. Ask us, your physical therapists, what kind of exercises are best for you and your family.
- Positive rewards work great for you and your children. New clothes, a new basketball, or an evening of roller-skating are great ideas for encouraging activity.
- Be your child’s “exercise buddy”. It’s also great “bonding” time.
Parents and children can do exercises while watching television (or at least during commercials), such as sit-ups, push-ups, or running in place.
Not sure where to start with your exercise plan? Call us today to get you started with a structured exercise program. We will help you make exercise a part of your life. Your body deserves it. Exercise and wellness is the BIGGEST gift you can give yourself this holiday season.
