Exercise is more important now than ever before
/ Exercise is more important now than ever before
By: Lt. Patrick J. Ciser (ret.)
Exercise; we’ve always been told to get more of it. If you ignored doctors and exercise experts in the past, you might now want to reevaluate your position. Fighting off obesity, diabetes and hypertension has always prolonged our lives, generally speaking. But today, with the emergence of COVID-19 striking people down with these ailments the most, the real battle begins. Research has shown that after advanced age, which is out of our control, obesity is the next highest risk factor when it comes to mortality rates. Smokers are also at great risk, and should absolutely cease and desist NOW!
How many hours do you sit at work, sit in a police car or sit stationed in a cell block watching prisoners all day? Doesn’t really give you that athletic and toned body you’d like, does it? Poor diets exacerbate the problem, and so does “happy hour” at the local pub. Many of us have excuses, but I did pretty well for 28 years on the job in the eating department. I very rarely ate junk food or used shift-work as an excuse, and I also believe in the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Healthy choices at diners rather than unhealthy fast-food places are usually your best choice. If not, I suggest that you simply “brown bag” it. It also wasn’t uncommon for me to bring a protein shake to work. It’s said that athletic bodies are made in the kitchen, and I believe that that’s 80% true. All the exercise in the world won’t counterbalance donuts, fast food and soda.
So, you are stuck home when you’re not working and the gyms are still closed down because of the pandemic. But there’s some good news! You really don’t need a lot of room or equipment to get your required daily exercise. You can start with jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, sit-ups, leg lifts, planks and sets of close hand position “stair” push-ups. I really like this type of push-up, as it gives you a better pump than regular push-ups in your pectorals and triceps. Stand facing a staircase, and place your hands on the fourth stair up, to do a warm-up set. After about a minute-long rest, do another set, now utilizing the third step. You can stay there for a few sets, or drop even lower to the second step. Functionally, this allows you to better push someone away from you with speed and power and also gives you a more powerful punch. This exercise mimics a decline close grip bench press. If you now turn with your back to the stairs, you can put your feet on the second or even third stair to mimic the incline bench press. Keep a log of your progress, and write down exercises, reps and sets. Try to increase your repetitions and number of sets performed as the weeks pass by. You can do this exercise two to three times per week.
Have you ever tried lunges for your quads? You can probably check them out on YouTube. In the karate dojo (school), in order to strengthen our legs, we get into a squat position called “shiko dashi”and hold it for a period of time. You go into a squat position, keeping your thighs parallel to the floor. Keep your feet pointing outward at about 45 degrees and hold that position for 7-10 seconds. Now takea wide step without straightening your legs, and hold it again. Each time you step, count 7-10 seconds before your next step and see how many you can do. Trust me; it buuurns! Increase the number of steps you take each time you do it, and perform this exercise twice a week for improvement. You can also consider doing squats with your wife or kid on your shoulders. I also encourage people to skip rope if the weather isn’t good enough to run. If you want to run to develop your quadriceps, make sure you’re doing wind sprints. Sprinting up bleachers by the local high school football field works well. Additionally, don’t forget to work on your balance, as the average person can only stand on one leg for about 34 seconds without tipping over. If you’re trying to lose weight, and you haven’t read some of my articles on dieting, go to YouTube. Intermittent fasting and keto dieting work well. Thomas DeLauer is one of my favorite dieting experts.
