Happy February and happy Heart Health month. For the next four posts I am going to highlight heart healthy activities from the lenses of a Recreational Therapist. However, it should be noted that the following information is for informational purposes only. If you’re looking for additional help, reach out and work with a professional.
Are you looking to maintain a healthy weight? Improve cardiovascular fitness? Strengthen your bones and muscles? Improve muscle endurance? And increase energy levels? If you answered yes to any of these questions, let me tell you to start walking. In my opinion, walking is the most accessible form of exercise. You need not to have a big space or fancy equipment. All you need is to get up and walk. If you’re unable to walk, propel yourself in your wheelchair. According to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, walking is the most common form of activity, and it is not surprising why it is. Walking for most people is easy, hassle-free, and doesn’t require you to go far to start.
Walking for me is used as a supplement to my other fitness and recreational activities. I use walking as a tool to recover between intense and vigorous bouts of exercise and enabling me to recover faster and more efficiently for my next workout. If walking is all you do for fitness and exercise, celebrate, and cherish the great benefits of walking! If you don’t enjoy walking, find an activity that you enjoy participating in and do that activity. So many people I know prefer swimming, cycling, or going on the stair stepper over walking. It isn’t so much about how you do it, rather your happiness when you do it. When you enjoy something, you will return and do the activity with increased frequency. The more you participate the sooner you will be to reaching your goals! Imagine doing something regularly that you don’t enjoy. How often would you do it? Bottom line, get up and move for you and only you. Whether it is walking, riding you bicycle, or going for a swim, get up and do!!
If you’re someone who is still contemplating the idea of starting, or have started and re-started many times, here are a few tips for you.
Make it easy. Take a piece of paper and write down all recreational activities that you enjoy doing. From that list, which activities can be done with minimal resistance? Now, figure out how long you want to go for. Getting started with 30 minutes daily is great. If you’re not there yet, start with a number that you can do daily.
Accountability. Team up with a friend and go for a walk together. If your schedules don’t align with one another, message each other and keep yourselves accountable. If doing it yourself is more of your vibe, set yourself reminders and check off what you do when and where. On days which I need accountability, I will reach out to a few friends to see if we can go together. Spoiler alert! Even if I may not always feel great during my activity time, I always feel better after I’m done.
Work with a professional. If the above tactics aren’t working for you, reach out and work with a professional. At least for the immediacy. Dolling out money for a professional to assist or help you get started is an effective way to start creating positive behavior change. When you can string together consecutive days of activity, the sooner you’ll arrive at improving your health and well-being.
Using evidence-based practices can help and assist in reaching your goals and dreams in a safe and effective way.
Capital Recreation 