Fun
Since Minute Movement headquarters is in Kansas City (and many of our early members are also from Kansas City) I thought we’d go with a Royals / World Series related post today.
With five games scheduled for the next week, I anticipate that a lot of Minute Movers will be sitting around – a lot! Sitting isn’t only bad for you during work hours, it’s always a good idea to move around a little bit.
So, let’s play a game – while we watch a game. Okay?
I found this drinking game (stay with me here) highlighting the World Series and it looks like fun. But,since we’re a health program – instead of drinking every time (for example) Lorde’s “Royals” is mentioned / played during the telecast, we’d like for you to do your favorite Minute Movement exercise for 15 seconds. And when the game recommends that you ‘shotgun a whole beer’, do an entire (one minute) Minute Movement.
If you send us a video of your Minute Movement World Series game we’ll enter you into a drawing for a free Minute Movement t-shirt (double entries for videos of Minute Movements AT a game!)
Let’s go Royals!
Minute Movement Lessons
Minute Movement really is a simple program but we don’t want anyone missing out on the incredible benefits of the exercises. So, today I’m going to cover the steps to take to truly Maximize Your Minutes!
Choose your Exercise – Be sure you are familiar with the exercises for the day (which you can see in your daily email or on the member page) so you can quickly choose the exercise you want to do when you hear your alarm. If you’re feeling a little stiff and sore, you might want to choose the Peaceful exercise and if you’re feeling exceptionally strong or have a lot of pent up energy an Energized exercise might be right for you.
Gratitude – We’ve found that it’s really helpful to take a second to think about what you are grateful for and hold that thought in your mind during your movement.
Deep Breath – Completely fill your lungs and squeeze out the stale air in order to prepare your body.
Timer – I like to keep a timer set at one minute on my smartphone at all times, that way all I have to do is open the app and press start when it’s time.
Engage the whole body – Even though we focus on a specific body part each day, it’s very important to use your entire body for each movement- especially your abs.
Breathe – Keep your breath slow and controlled throughout the minute.
Increase your intensity every 15 seconds if you can, but be sure to listen to your body too – Minute Movement is about mindfulness as much as it is about commitment, and hey – no stopping before your time’s up – Go to Zeros!
When the time’s up – take a deep, cleansing breath and get back to your day!
I hope you are starting to see the awesome benefits of Minute Movement.
Quality of Life
I’ve had a lot on my plate lately and I’m finding that with my busier schedule and longer task I keep dropping one of the behaviors that are essential to well being. Since my days are full of all things Minute Movement, fitness is at the forefront of my mind and because the program is quick and simple, I’m staying on board with my daily movement. So, what do you think I gave up instead?
Yep, sleep. I’ve always had a little trouble with sleeping enough and it only takes a couple of nights of trying to get a couple more tasks marked off the list after everyone’s in bed for me to be way off schedule – again – and that’s where I am today.
According to this article on WebMD entitled 9 Surprising Reasons to Get More Sleep I am making a big mistake when I don’t make sleep a priority in my life.
‘Studies show that the gap between getting just enough sleep and getting too little sleep may affect your health, your mood, your weight, and even your sex life. If you’re getting less than the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep a night, here are nine reasons that you should shut down your computer, turn off the lights, and go to bed an hour early tonight.’
- Better health. ‘Study after study has found a link between insufficient sleep and some serious health problems, such as heart disease, heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity. … One study simulated the effects of the disturbed sleep patterns of shift workers on 10 young healthy adults. After a mere four days, three of them had blood glucose levels that qualified as pre-diabetic.
- Better sex life. ‘There’s evidence that in men, impaired sleep can be associated with lower testosterone levels — although the exact nature of the link isn’t clear.’.
- Less pain. ‘Many studies have shown a link between sleep loss and lower pain threshold. Researchers have found that getting good sleep can supplement medication for pain.’
- Lower risk of injury. ‘Sleeping enough might actually keep you safer. The Institute of Medicine estimates that one out of five auto accidents in the U.S. results from drowsy driving — that’s about 1 million crashes a year.
- Better mood. “Not getting enough sleep affects your emotional regulation, when you’re overtired, you’re more likely to snap at your boss, or burst into tears, or start laughing uncontrollably.”
- Better weight control. ‘Getting enough sleep could help you maintain your weight — and conversely, sleep loss goes along with an increased risk of weight gain.’
- Clearer thinking. ‘Studies have found that people who are sleep-deprived are substantially worse at solving logic or math problems than when they’re well-rested.’
- Better memory. ‘Studies have shown that while we sleep, our brains process and consolidate our memories from the day. If you don’t get enough sleep, it seems like those memories might not get stored correctly — and can be lost.’
- Stronger immunity. ‘Could getting enough sleep prevent the common cold? [In] one preliminary study … researchers tracked over 150 people and monitored their sleep habits for two weeks. Then they exposed them to a cold virus. People who got seven hours of sleep a night or less were almost three times as likely to get sick as the people who got at least eight hours of sleep a night.’
Okay, I’m convinced! Hopefully I’ll be well rested and back to my old, chatty self in the morning
Motivation
Sometimes we think that there will always be plenty of time.
Time to take that class. Time to take that trip. Time to have lunch with that one special friend.
Sometimes, when we think there’s plenty of time we’re wrong; and we miss out on something wonderful that could have been.
But sometimes …
sometimes we think that our time’s up.
We think, ‘Well, I’m ## years old and I’ve missed the boat. If I wanted to take that class, (or that trip, or get in shape) I really should have started years ago – and now it’s just too late.’
The thing is, that type of thinking is just as much of a mistake.
If you want to do something, if you have a dream – you owe it to yourself to take the chance and the steps to make your dreams happen.
Today is the perfect day to begin.
Exercise
Sarah Ballantyne, PhD of ThePaleoMom.com recently shared this fabulous article about the potential dangers of over-training. Essentially too much activity can negatively impact your health; causing increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, an activated immune system, and body-wide inflammation. You may have heard this before but it bears repeating; your body does not know the difference between the stress of a lion attack, a near-miss on the freeway,a looming deadline, or (apparently) running a marathon. Any of these experiences can trigger the Fight-or-Flight Response, and hanging out in Flight-or-Fight has serious consequences for your health.
Dr. Ballantyne completely put an end to my vague desire to ‘run a marathon – someday’ when she shared that ‘Up to half of all long-distance runners experience something called runner’s diarrhea (colloquially referred to as “runner’s runs,” “runner’s trots,” or “the gingerbread man”). The symptoms include dizziness, nausea, stomach or intestinal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, which occur mainly while running.’. Now that I think about it, I only wanted to run because I have so many friends who have newsfeeds full of pictures of medals and sweaty runner-friend finish line hugs- that’s the part that looks awesome to me – the hugs!
Obviously you DO need to move your body (and what’s excessive for me might be a breeze for you) but it may be time to rethink the whole ‘Go Big or Go Home’ philosophy. Dr. Ballantyne recommends listening to your body, having fun, and ‘getting some moderately-intense activity designed to build strength into your day’ – we couldn’t agree more.
