Get past the hump!

2 days remaining until the weekend…but who’s counting!?  If you are like me, you may need a bit of stress relief in your life.  A little relaxation…

The hustle and bustle of work and life has finally caught up to me – and I feel at wits end!  Instead of pulling my hair out – which is what I feel like doing – or running straight to the freezer for a scoop (or 3) of ice cream – I am going to practice a few helpful coping strategies I learned here at H3.

 

-          Jot it down.  Start a ‘stress journal’ and spend 10 – 15 minutes writing about stressful events and how they made you feel.  This will help you not only get it out – but also pin point where your stress is coming from.

-          Laugh, cry, and scream!  A healthy way to relieve stress is to simply let it all out.  If you don’t have a friend or family member you feel comfortable sharing with, find a local counselor or professional.

-          Do something you love.  Find a hobby, volunteer, or spend time with friends and family.  You may feel overwhelmed at the thought of adding another item to your task list, but these may help take your mind off what’s stressing you.

-          Meditate or pray.  A great way to focus and relax your racing mind! 

-          Sweat it out.  Regular exercise is a GREAT way to manage stress.  Try exercises like kick-boxing (which actually let you fight out your aggression) or calming exercises like yoga or tai-chi.  Get those endorphins pumping!

-          Try these relaxation techniques.  Performing Progressive Muscle Relaxation will help relieve muscle tension.  You can perform this exercise either sitting or lying down.

-          Just Breathe…  Chest breathing is often associated with chronic stress and tension – you know, the short rapid breaths.  Try breathing from your abdomen – which helps regulate your heart rate and reduce the anxious feeling.

-          Treat yourself to a massage.  No explanation needed for this one ;)

 

Now that you are equipped with the best coping methods around – don’t worry – only 2 more days!    

A joke a day keeps the doctor away...

Laughter has health benefits…no joke!  Take a look at a few of the benefits --- and then get your laugh on with a few ‘healthy’ jokes.

Short – Term Benefits

Not only do a few giggles release the tension and stress, but actually stimulate physical changes in your body.

-          Stimulate your organs.  Laughter increases your oxygen intake, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles.  End result: releases feel-good endorphins from your brain.

-          Activate and release your stress response.  By laughing – you actually increase your heart rate and blood pressure giving you a relaxed feeling.

-          Soothe tension and stomachaches.    Laughter can also ease digestion and stimulate circulation, which helps reduce the physical feeling of stress.

Long – Term Benefits

-          Improve your immune system.  Positive thoughts activate responses that actually help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses. 

-          Relieve pain.  Laughter actually causes your body to produce natural painkillers.  Say good-bye to tension headaches!

-          Increase personal satisfaction.  Laughter can make a negative situation a little bit easier.  Turn that frown upside down!

 

Try these jokes on your family and friends -- I’m sure you will get a good laugh!

Q:  Why couldn't the sesame seed leave the gambling casino?

A:  Because he was on a roll.

 

Q: What did the mayonnaise say to the refrigerator?

A: Close the door, I’m dressing!

 

Q: What's the worst thing about being an octopus?

A: Washing your hands before dinner.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Source:  Mayoclinic.com

Building a Better [Stronger] Body

Last week, a study announced that strength training shows benefits in breast cancer survivors.  Not only does it help these already powerful women, but also provides MANY benefits for the Average Joe.

Weight training can help tone your muscles, increase metabolism, improve your appearance and prevent age-related muscle loss.

Why Strength Train?

Not only will you feel STRONG but here are a few other benefits from pumpin’ iron…

-  Reduces body fat --- who doesn’t want that???

-  Develops strong bones, which decreases the risk of osteoporosis.

-  Good for your HEART!  Helps prevent cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

-  Increase energy levels…no more 3pm slump!

-  STRESS reliever.

-  Improves mood and overall well-being.

-  You’ll sleep like a baby.

-  Increases stamina and endurance -- you’ll keep going and going and going…

-  Helps prevent injury.

-  Improves balance and flexibility.

I know all of this talk [ladies] has you thinking you will turn into the Incredible Hulk.  However, women are not equipped with the proper hormones (aka testosterone) to make this happen.  Still don’t believe me…click here.

Now that you’re convinced…

Learn the proper technique.  If you aren’t sure of the technique – enlist the help of a personal trainer or another fitness specialist.

Start slowly. If you just beginning, you may find you are only able to lift a few pounds.  Start with a weight you can lift 12-15 repetitions until fatigue.  After a few weeks, try increasing your sets to 2 or 3.

Take time to rest.  To give your muscles time to recover, rest one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. You might choose to work the major muscle groups at a single session two or three times a week — or plan daily sessions for specific muscle groups. For example, on Monday work your arms and shoulders, on Tuesday work your legs, and back to your arms and shoulders on Wednesday.

Alright, now that you’re armed and ready to get lifting…where to start?

Check out our library of videos with step by step instruction from our Fitness Director Adam Martin.

Back to the Bike

 

After a 10 year hiatus, I have rediscovered my love for biking. However, I must admit, it was a scary, heart-pounding journey. Several weeks ago, my fellow intern, Maggie, asked if I wanted to bike down to the beach with her during our break. I agreed thinking ‘it can’t be that hard to pick back up.’ After all, I biked every single day with my brother around the neighborhood…back in the day.

Boy was I wrong. I could have crawled at a faster pace than my biking speed. Maggie was practically biking in circles around me! My body head to toe was sweating, my heart was bursting out of my chest, and my forearms were stiff from grasping onto the handles for dear life.

Since that day, I have biked several times each week—to the beach, to the grocery store, around Shipyard Plantation. I still can’t believe it took me so much time to get back on a bike, but I’m sure glad I did.

If you are thinking of getting back on a bike for fitness, environmental and/or recreational reasons, here are some things that helped me get back to the bike:

1)    The steering took some time to get used to, but it came back to me after a couple bike rides. Having to bike on the twisty paths in Shipyard on my first try was quite an experience! 

2)    Making sure my seat was adjusted to the right height. For the first couple of weeks I had been biking with my seat too low and my legs had been pedaling an awkward motion.  See http://www.bicycletutor.com/adjust-seat for tips.

3)    Biking with a friend that knew where the paths started/ended, could watch the stop lights while my heart pounded away, and watched for oncoming traffic (!!). Plus, biking with another person encouraged me to keep pedaling along rather than turning around and giving up.

4)     Practice, practice, practice. After that first day, I thought I’d never get back on a bike again. That was enough stress to last several weeks! But I didn’t let my horrible biking skills keep me away. It was challenging for me but I figured it would be an excellent way to cross train, enjoy the warm weather/outdoors, relieve stress, and exercise on the beach.

So, if you have been meaning to get back on your bike, I encourage you to go get it out of your garage/storage room and get pedaling! If anything, it’ll  help you save some [expensive] gas!