Do you spend most of your day indoors (at home, in an office, or your car), longing to spend time in the beautiful warm weather? Let’s get creative and find ways to enjoy the outdoors while still getting everything done.

Consider conducting meetings outside. A formal board meeting is held in the board room, but many of us hold informal meetings with clients and colleagues in coffee shops and restaurants. Consider meeting at a park. Going a step further, try walking and talking (no chewing gum required) to fit in a little exercise. It can be more stimulating and everyone will benefit.

Eat alfresco. In the morning, take breakfast to your patio. If it is especially hot where you live, this may be the best time for you to enjoy the outdoors. If you work outside the home, is there a nearby place you can walk to for lunch? Can you bring lunch and eat outside?

Being outdoors provides health benefits such as Vitamin D (which our body manufactures when exposed to the sun). It also offers a quick respite from your daily routine. Catch a few rays and enjoy!

To your health,

Katie Katz
Katdance Fitness by Phone®, President

Did you know that aerobic exercise can raise your HDL (“good”) cholesterol, but weight training will not? Researchers at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale found overweight subjects who worked out aerobically for ten weeks had a 29 – 34% increase in HDL cholesterol. Ten weeks of weight training had no effect. In addition to aerobic exercise, you can raise your HDL cholesterol (and lower your heart disease risk as a result) by quitting smoking, eating monounsaturated fats, and losing weight.

Did you know that eating at night does not make you gain weight? Despite what you have heard for years, researchers have shown that night eating does not cause any more weight gain than eating most of your food during the day. But, weight gain will happen if you eat more calories than you burn in a day, no matter when you eat them. Many people come home from work and snack before dinner, then eat dinner, and then snack in front of the television before going to bed. Avoiding mindless eating in the evening, by eating throughout the day when you are hungry, is the key to keeping the weight off.
 
Did you know that women often experience different symptoms of a heart attack than men? Until recently, most heart disease research has been conducted on men. Because of this, many emergency room doctors do not immediately recognize when a woman is having a heart attack. Women may feel out of breath, very tired, nauseated, or they may even be vomiting. Pain in the chest may feel like squeezing, as opposed to crushing for men. Pain will sometimes radiate down the right arm and women are more likely to have neck and jaw pain with a heart attack. For more information, check out http://familydoctor.org/287.xml.

Six Rules Of Gym Etiquette

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1. Honor set limits: When it is crowded and people are lined up for treadmills, elliptical trainers, and all of the various pieces of cardiovascular equipment, most gyms have a time limit, say 20 or 30 minutes. While you may have planned a longer workout, be polite and follow the time limit. If you did plan a longer cardio workout, search for another type of equipment that does not have a wait – this is a good way to cross train. If you can predict ahead of time that your workout will be limited, you can exercise more intensely, say with longer intervals. I know that not everyone follows this rule, and it is irritating. Let’s set a good example in hope others will follow.

2. Offer to work in: Crowds also affect the availability of weight equipment. The gym term “work in” means that you work in sets with another person. If you see someone waiting for the equipment you are using, offer to let them work in. Others will often do the same for you. If someone doesn’t notice you waiting, don’t be shy – ask to work in yourself.

3. Keep it dry: Use a towel to wipe down the equipment that you use. If your club does not provide them, bring one from home. Exercising on equipment dripping in someone else’s perspiration is no treat.

4. Pick up: When using free weights, put them back in their place, even if that is not where you found them (and often, it isn’t). Others will appreciate easily finding the weights they need and it will reduce the risk of someone tripping over weights on the floor.

5. If you can lift it, please set it down: I often see someone performing an exercise with heavy weights and rather than setting them back on the floor, the person drops them to the ground. Not only is there a risk of injury to the person dropping the weight(s) (or potentially someone walking by), it can be annoying to others nearby. If the weight is so heavy that you feel the need to drop it, you likely need a spotter, someone to make sure you perform the exercise safely and can help set down the weights.

6. Use a locker: It seems easier to carry around your “stuff” with you, but gym etiquette says to use a locker. While your bag may seem small or your pile of a sweatshirt, book, and car keys do not seem to take up that much room, everyone’s “stuff” all together takes up a lot a space and gets in the way. Invest a few dollars in a lock and experience the freedom of not lugging your “stuff” around the gym from one exercise to the next.

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For more info about Katdance Fitness by Phone, email: kblumkatz@verizon.net,Or call 410-757-8830

©Fitness By Phone®2006