Leading By Example

How dare I prescribe physical activity without being physically active myself?

I was on my way home from a day in the PT clinic when the DJ on the radio shared the results of a recent John Hopkins University study; it showed that if we all encourage our kiddos to go out and vigorously play for just 25 minutes a day 3 times/week, the US could save $32 billion on health-related expenses. Additionally, if kids were on the move for 1 hour every day, the US could save $37 billion. Check out this New York Times article for the specific details.

According to the American Heart Association, being physically active is second to none in preventing heart disease & stroke (#1 & #5 Killers in the United States)! The recommended amount of physical activity is at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combo)!

Therefore, I aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. Why do I do this? Because I am not going to be a hypocrite to my patients and administer exercise if I am not doing it myself. And why else? Because my body feel 50x better on days when I exercise than days when I lay it low.

Physical activity does not just have to be time & money at a gym. In fact, the great outdoors is oftentimes my favorite "gym." Occasionally, I may use equipment to accomplish my workout goals, but nature ultimately does the trick.

Below is a list of my favorite physical activities - being a "seasonal" sportie, I like to partake in different types of physical activity depending on the season:

Water Activities

Kayaking

Pictured above is our first time tandem kayaking (IN JANUARY) at Laguna de Apoyo in Granada, Nicaragua. By far my favorite water sport that I crave, especially during the off seasons of winter. DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) always reminds me that my arms aren't conditioned enough to handle more than 1-2 hours of paddling, however I am slowly learning how to overcome it thanks to some health experts from Tools of Titans.

SPT Lessons:

• Kayaking is about balance, upper extremity ROM, and core strengthening - all in one. It also varies if you are in a sit-in vs. a sit-on kayak or wide vs. narrow base.
• Increasing speed or paddling against the current means adding resistance to this recreational activity. Bigger bang for your buck (I mean, muscles!)
• Going out with first-timers, I always suggest graded exposure of this sport. Don't start with a half day trip in a rapid moving body of water (such as Lake Michigan during The Air and Water Show). Start with still waters in a 75-100 acre of water with just one or 2 hours of kayaking.

Paddle boarding

During my first clinical internship (CE I, July-August 2016) in Sterling Heights, MI, my college roommate & I gave paddle boarding a try at my relative's lake! Thankfully, it was not her first time, so she could help a newbie like me get my feet wet...figuratively of course. Otherwise, that would mean that I fell off the paddle board! Bro tip: Just like how we progress our patient's interventions in the clinic, it is best to start paddle boarding in a nice, calm small lake before testing the wavy waters of an ocean (as mentioned above for kayaking).

SPT Lessons:

• Ankle strategy is working overtime to keep you on that board. Your gastrocnemius muscles may be sore the next day (Mine was for 3 days!).
• SPT was able to perform 3 stand<>sit WITHOUT falling off paddleboard with minimum distractions (very few waves in the lake).

Canoeing

Does that face look like a joyous face or a scared-out-of-my skin face? It was certainly the latter. Gigantic boat for 2 = constantly feels like you're going to tip over like a little tea pot. Canoeing is a fun sport for a group of friends to do, as each person can take on a different role - some can just go for the ride while others paddle on the left or right.

SPT Lessons

• There are two responses to aquatic exercises: scared & tensed up so none of your muscles relax, or serene & calm that muscle tone decreases, heart rate decreases, and life is a cake walk. Choose your exercises wisely.
• Practicing the canoe/kayak Wii game actually helped me to understand the concepts of paddling once I got into the actual water - with no watery mess during the trial run - just a thought (-:

Land Activities

Line Dancing

Thank you to my lifelong friends for introducing to me such a hidden gem just 10 minutes from home! In the summer 2015, we pulled out our cowboy boots & began to learn the steps of line dance! Line Dancing is held Wednesday nights (for lessons) and Friday nights at 115 Bourbon St. in Merrionette Park. Did I mention it's free?

SPT Lessons:

• In terms of the Principles of Neuroplasticity, specificity matters. If you want to improve walking, you walk. If you want to improve swimming, you swim. If you want to improve line dancing, you LINE dance. For line dancing especially, repetition matters. That there is a lot of repeated steps that come back in other songs. Once you know how to the jazz box or forward/backward shuffles, you will see it in another dance & go "I got it!" Another important feature is time matters - somewhat in a different context though in line dancing. Time matters in neuroplasticity of the window of an acute injury vs a chronic stage post-injury. In line dancing, time matters so that you are not 2 or 4 steps behind the rest of the line dancing crew. But, the best part of line dancing? Salience matters! How much more motivated can you get when you are surrounded by others doing the same dance to the same song? Seeing others do the dance lets me be a risk taker and learn a new dance just by watching a few reps & then jumping in and letting the mirror effect do the rest of the work.

Walking / Hiking

My favorite form of physical activity that is done more often these days just because of my admiration for nature & time constraints. It is versatile, scenic, and year-round. Unlike ice skating that is a winter sport and kayaking that is a summer sport, walking is acceptable in all four seasons that we get in the Chicagoland.

Best places to walk? Depends on the location.

• For downtown, it's hands down the Chicago Riverwalk; there are numerous bridges that can take you to any part of the city or all the way to Navy Pier. It's 100% paved and have tons of benches for sitting breaks.
• In the southwest suburbs of Chicago, I am big fan of Lake Katherine (1 mile), Swallow Cliff (1-5 miles), Waterfall Glen (2-9.5 miles), and the Cal Sag Trail (1-13 miles). Each place has its own natural beauties. Want to see swan families & don't mind the wood chips? Head to Lake Katherine in Palos Heights. Interested in taking 100+ steps before starting your trail walk? Go to Swallow Cliff in Palos Park. Don't mind getting your feet wet in a natural waterfall? Try out Waterfall Glen in Lemont.

SPT Lessons

• If there's one physical activity that is easy to get someone to buddy up with you, it's walking. Walking and talking is efficient!
• Walking small bouts of your reserved gait speed can increase your self-selected gait speed (See self-reflections for more details).

Biking

If you clocked in what type of physical activity sport I have done the most of over my life, biking would win by a landslide. Distance has only increased over the years with daily goals of 5 miles. Summer of 2016, I tried a recumbent bike for the first time at a WHF Military Sports Camp with several other veterans from across the U.S. Something glorious occurs when you see a bunch of veterans on adaptive equipment all able to play sports together.

SPT Lessons

• Do your research before going out on biking trails. Some are smooth & paved while others are limestone or turf-covered routes.
• Biking is an exercise that offloads the knees far more than walking. For some individuals with knee pain, you may actually find relief with biking!
• Want to progress your biking endeavors? Join a spin class. They offer them through fitness centers and occasionally through park districts.

Ice Skating

Attending UIC has more perks that I could ever fathom. The fact that I can take a short train ride to Millenium Park or Maggie Daley Park to ice skate right before or after class only comes around once in a lifetime.

Starting in December of 2015, I decided to buy a pair of ice skates and give it a try once again. The last time before that, I was around 10 years old. Thankfully, some of my PT classmates were interested in taking on this daring endeavor & Just a FYI: Both Chicago skating rinks are FREE admission if you bring your own skates.

SPT Lessons:

• The stages of learning are clear as can be while out at the skating rink either as a spectator or as a skater. Those in the cognitive stage are on the edges of the rink going really slow. Why? Because their mind keeps telling them "Don't fall. Stay near the wall." Those in the associative stage are going to start taking risks and will venture out into the rink. They will attempt to go a bit faster and even cut around those still hanging on the edges. Then, we have those autonomous stage skaters. They are talking to you while skating backwards and will go and show off a twirl in the middle of the rink. Their skating looks like my line dancing!

Running

With all of the 5Ks, 10Ks, and half/full marathons going on almost every other weekend downtown, the clock was ticking before I would get involved in some sort of organized race. This is not some sport that I ever favored in my high school days, and I still have to really motivate myself to get out and increase my gait speed above 4.0 mph. But, the runner's high is real & getting a workout done really fast is an added bonus. Plus, I have my goddaughter who LOVES running as a gigantic motivator!

SPT Lessons

• My body is not ready for a 10 min/mile pace yet. That doesn't mean it's impossible; it just means I need practice. How do I get to a faster pace? Graded exposure exercises by doing a mix of jogging and walking. With each attempt, my body realizes, "Hey, I can handle that extra push!"
• Did you know that endurance athletes have been shown to have increased mechanical pain thresholds and cold pain tolerance? Why can they take more pain? It may be psychological - where they concentrate so much on their stride or distract themselves from the uphill battle - or it may be physiological- and have more flexible cognitive strategies and even less fear of pain? It is still being studied extensively, but that is the current theories emerging from evidence.
• In 2016, I ran my first 5K. In 2017, I completed my first 15K. Pace improved in just one month of practicing. Your body will adjust if you keep pushing the limit just a little bit each time.
• Try out doing intervals such as: walk for 1 minute, run for 30 seconds. Find the interval you are comfortable at right now and slowly increase your run time and decrease walk time. Before you know it, your pace will be faster!
• If you are not into listening to your favorite soundtrack, you can always put on a few podcasts & learn something new while running! The podcast I used to train for my 15Ks/5Ks is The Tim Ferriss Show.