Be Your Own Medal Winner: Get Up and Move!

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Three women exercising

In the past week, much of our attention has been on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It can be exciting to watch elite athletes competing for the gold, silver, and bronze medals. Some of us may get motivated to try a new sport or start playing an old one again. When we find that we are not moving as much as we used to or feel we should, usually it comes down to motivation. Finding what motivates is key to getting ourselves to increase our movement and healthy physical activity.

It could be just getting out there and walking more. Maybe speed walk or mix up your walking routine to find new places to go or have part be fast walking, silly walking like big steps then small steps. Play your favorite music that just makes you naturally move more as you walk.

You could also try a new sport. Challenge a friend to try it with you. That was how I began one of my favorite sports, Ultimate or Ultimate Frisbee as some know it. I challenged my friend to try it with me and it became a sport I played for over 20 years.

You can also try to mix up your physical activity and add in some weight-bearing exercises or resistant training. You could be like the first gold medal winner from the Philippines who used water-filled jugs and a stick to weight lift her way to the Olympic Gold medal in weightlifting. You can use cans of soup. You can also work on your flexibility by reaching for things off of high shelves and stretch your leg and arm muscles while you do it.

If as you get older, your knees and legs aren’t what they used to be, and you find you need to rest more than move when you are walking or doing other activities. If this is the case, try chair exercises. You can even find some online chair yoga videos to watch and learn ways to stay active even if you can’t stay on your feet for long periods of time.

Contact our office for more ideas on ways to stay active and find the motivation to keep moving our bodies.