With the recent celebration of Global Ergonomics Month, here are some reminder tips for things you can do to remain ERGOhealthy:

1. Integrate walking as part of your fitness plan.  The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of activity each week.  For most adults, this amount of physical activity can be easily achieved in 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
2. For those in sedentary professions, or who spend a lot of time sitting, before you begin your day, adjust your workstation.  This takes less than a few minutes.
3. Get up and stretch every 1 – 2 hours.  Relax your eyes using vision relaxation exercises.  And remember to drink plenty of water.
4. Cut down on watching television and gaming.  For participants in a recent study, the risk of death was twofold higher for participants who watched three or more hours of television per day compared to those who watched one hour less.
5. People who exercise a few times a week in their senior years are 2.5 times less likely to suffer serious long-term health problems.  According to a recent study, taking up physical activity later in life is beneficial and life-extending.  The findings include:
   1. Whether working in the garden or cleaning your car, exercising a few times a week in your later years can dramatically improve health.
   2. Seniors who participate in moderate exercise (including walking or dancing) are two and a half times less likely to suffer serious long-term health problems.

If you are holding off starting down your ERGOhealthy path, now is the time to start.  Recently, researchers from University College London who examined 3,500 men and women over 65 say “it is never too late to start being active.”

There are lot of ways people exercise today – whether it’s swimming, hiking, biking, martial arts, running, gardening, aerobics & other classes, yoga, weightlifting, and numerous sporting activities.  Given the number of options, however, experts say that “walking is a superfood” of fitness.  According to Katy Bowman, author and scientist, walking is the “defining movement of a human.”  Walking, she suggests, is a “movement nutrient that the body needs.”

New research evidence has come to light that suggests that trying to offset a sedentary lifestyle with an hour-straight of exercise may not be as effective as integrating shorter breaks throughout the day.  In August of this year, a small study of non-obese men suggests that three to five minute walks/breaks for every hour of sitting helps functionality of arterial flow in the legs.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of activity each week.  For most adults, this amount of physical activity can be easily achieved in 30 minutes/day, five days a week.  ACSM’s former President, Dr. Bob Sallis touts walking (and rolling, for those who use wheelchairs) a “wonder drug” for many of today’s most common medical problems.

Welcome to the walking movement!

Want to learn more:

Effect of Prolonged Sitting and Breaks in Sitting Time on Endothelial Function

Every Body Walk! The Campaign to Get America Walking

ACSM on Physical Activity and Weight Loss

Katy Bowman: Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement - Paperback

This month’s tip comes from Kate Montgomery, an ERGOhealthy Coach and author.  She shares with us her insights for various professions, hobbies, and sports:

No matter what your occupation, sport or hobby, the 12-step Montgomery Method™ can help you to maintain stronger grip strength, and reduce or eliminate the pain in your arms, wrists and hands.  Kate’s 12 Step Healing Method can be found on the ERGOhealthy Ergonomics Resource Center at www.schoolergocenter.com(see the Resource Library).

Here are a few extra tips Kate would like to share:

Sedentary Professions:  Before you begin your day, adjust your workstation – which takes less than five minutes.  Every two to four hours Kate recommends doing Steps 1 through 11 of the Montgomery Method, and massaging your muscles as needed.  Get up, move around, and stretch.  Drink plenty of water.  Relax your eyes using vision relaxation exercises.

Musicians:  Warm-up with exercises and self-massage your arms and hands before practice or performing. Complete Steps 1-11 before and after playing. Warm-up with the following exercises:

• Ball squeeze or grip strength, ten to twenty times, each hand
• Chinese ball exercise, ten times, each hand
• Rubber band exercise, ten to twenty times, each hand. Use exercise tools to stretch and strengthen the extensor muscles as well as the flexor muscles (pinch grip) of the forearm.

Golfers:  Complete Steps 1-11 before you tee off.  Steps 4-11 can be done throughout the game as needed. After the game, repeat all steps. Use exercise tools to stretch and strengthen the extensor muscles as well as the flexor muscles (pinch grip) of the forearm.

Tennis Players (and like Sports):  Complete Steps 1-11 before you begin a match.  Steps 4-11 can be done throughout the game as needed. After the game, repeat all steps. Rub the neurolymphatic reflex points for the hamstrings and quadriceps as well as the upper body. For hamstrings, rub the inside of the legs. For quadriceps, rub under the rib cage diagonally. Rub firmly for ten to thirty seconds.

Knitters, Needlepoint/Quilters:  Be aware of your posture the whole time you are knitting, needle pointing, or quilting.  When doing tasks such as these, check your posture to ensure your shoulders are not rounded.  Complete Steps 1-11, and stretch throughout your day.  Include steps 10 and 11 as much as tolerable.

References:

The Montgomery Method:  A 12 Step Prevention & Maintenance Program for Ages 7 and Up (Kate Montgomery, CSMT, ND)

Adults in the United States spend more than half of their waking hours in sedentary pursuits such as television viewing, computer use, or driving.

According to new research published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association, adults who watch three or more hours of television per day have double the risk of premature death compared to those who watch less.

“Watching television is significant sedentary behavior, there being a growing tendency towards this lifestyle behavior pattern," highlighted lead researcher Miguel A. Martínez-González.  "Our results are consistent with a previous series of studies in which the time spent watching television is linked to mortality.”

The risk of death was twofold higher for participants who watched three or more hours of television per day compared to those who watched one hour less.  There was no association found with computer use or driving.

Recommendations from the researchers include:

1. Increase physical activity
2. Avoid long periods of sedentary inactivity
3. Reduce exposure to television to not more than one or two hours a day

Want to learn more: 

Television Viewing, Computer Use, Time Driving and All‐Cause Mortality: The SUN Cohort

Physical activity report card for our youth:  Not good – with 50% of waking hours spent in sedentary activity.

Recently, The National Physical Activity Plan Alliance and the AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine released their U.S. Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.  Unfortunately, grades in a number of key indicators are failing or very poor.

According to the report, the primary goal of the report card was to “assess physical activity levels and sedentary behaviors of U.S. children and youth.”   Key findings indicate that physical activity levels in American youth are falling below recommended levels, with 50% of waking hours spent in sedentary activity.  Furthermore, the report found that only 25% of children ages 6 to 15 are meeting the current guideline of 60 minutes of moderate physical activity per day

The key indicators evaluated and graded in the report card include:

-- Overall Physical Activity:  D-

-- Sedentary Behaviors:  D

-- Active Transportation:  F

-- Organized Sport Participation:  C-

-- School:  C-

-- Community and the Built Environment:  B-

-- Active Play:  Incomplete

-- Health-Related Fitness:  Incomplete

-- Family and Peers:  Incomplete

-- Government Strategies and Investments:  Incomplete

Want to learn more:

The 2014 United States Report Card On Physical Activity For Children & Youth 

Top nutrition experts share ideas for getting kids to eat better and be more active

People who exercise a few times a week in old age are 2.5 times less likely to suffer serious long-term health problems.

According to a recent study, taking up physical activity later in life is beneficial and life-extending.  The findings include:

Whether working in the garden or cleaning your car, exercise a few times a week in old age can dramatically improve health

Seniors who participate in moderate exercise (including walking or dancing) are two and a half times less likely to suffer serious long-term health problems.

Additionally, researchers from University College London who examined 3,500 men and women over 65 say “it is never too late to start being active.”

Want to learn more:

Taking up physical activity in later life and healthy aging: the English longitudinal study of aging

Over the last several years numerous articles about importance of exercise have come to light.   In addition, research is pointing to a strong association between sitting and chronic disease.  Driving automobiles, watching television and movies, hours spent on computers, tablets, and smartphones, and in the past few years online social networking and gaming... keeps us sitting more than ever!

Based on the research, a key health benefit of exercise is its ability to help normalize glucose, insulin, and leptin levels. According to Jordan Metzl, a sports-medicine physician at New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery and author of The Exercise Cure:  "Exercise is the best preventive drug we have, and everybody needs to take that medicine."  It's been suggested that exercise is "the best preventive drug" for many common ailments, from psychiatric disorders to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Although research is forthcoming, there may be an association between long hours of television and other sedentary activities and chronic disease.  So, if you are sedentary for long periods of time (whether in a car, plane, at work, watching television, gaming, or using online social networking), it's important to stand at least every hour.  Some even suggest that standing every 15-20 minutes is better.

Want to learn more:

Doctors Prescribe Exercise as “Best Preventive Drug”

In a fitness event schedule next month, promoters are advising parents go the extra mile for fitness and help sedentary cyber-kids by awakening their children from the inert world of video games and get back to the great outdoors for sunshine, fitness and health!

The latest CDC results show that 75 percent of kids and teenagers are not getting the recommended amount of daily exercise for optimal health without dieting.  This represents 12.5 million teens under threat of chronic health conditions.

Parents, adult relatives, and adults play a vital role to ensure that our young generation will have a balanced lifestyle... not only to be literate in technology... but to be fit in body and mind.

Want to learn more:

Top nutrition experts share ideas for getting kids to eat better and be more active