Both President George W. Bush and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson have a vision of a "HealthierUS," an America where people are empowered to make healthy choices. In brief, they want each one of us to:
Some members of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports wanted to share with you what they do on a regular basis to stay active and keep fit. Maybe you can adapt a few of their fitness tips to your own lifestyle and make them work for you: "I work out five or six days a week – anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on what I'm trying to do. At a minimum, it would be 45 minutes of cardio work and a minimum of 300 sit-ups. That's about an hour. After that I might spend another hour lifting weights. That would be either on my own or with a personal trainer." Dorothy G. Richardson, M.D., Vice Chair "My goal is to get an aerobic workout at least three to four times a week. If I can do four, that's best for me. I like to work every other day on anaerobics and weightlifting. Instead of doing one body part one day and one body part another day, I just like to do all of my weightlifting on one day and then work on aerobics – treadmill, biking, recline bike and getting outside and jogging. That's a tip. You really want to do things you enjoy doing, and create your workout according to things you're not going to get bored with. In softball, all I do now is coach 18 and under and I play celebrity games. It's really fun to do those things. I do those a few times a year. But what's really coming to the forefront is golf. When you play it, it's so beautiful to be out on the landscape. I play about four times a year. It's one of those things I will probably try to do a little bit more of."
Denise Austin "About three to four times a week I do something cardio and I change it up a lot. I'm a big believer that variety helps to surprise new muscle groups. It keeps it fresh. I walk some days. Some days I run. Some days I get on a stationary bicycle or just do true aerobics. So I kind of mix up my cardio. There are less chances of injury that way. I always finish it off with some yoga stretches and some toning exercises. Monday to Friday is my true, dedicated 30-40 minutes of workout, and on the weekend I do something with our whole family. We play tennis together. As a family we stay active together. I make sure I squeeze it in. Usually Tuesday and Thursday I do a little workout with weights. I do some pilates. I do floorwork and strength training type things. If it's bad weather and I can't go outside, I just do my show or one of my videos."
James Baird, M.D. "I workout three or four times a week. I start out with some stretching, some aerobic stuff. Then I spend a half hour on some weights. Then I go back and spend another 30 minutes on the ellipitical machine. So five minutes stretching, seven minutes on the ellipitical trainer, 30 minutes of weights, another 30 minutes on the ellipitical and then five to seven minutes stretching. That's my routine. In the summer I swim. On other off days when I'm getting home from work or getting up early I simply walk. It depends on my schedule. I look at the week in advance and I see where the holes are in my schedule."
John Burke "I rode my bike 1,500 miles this summer. Pretty good. I'm thinking about whether I should go for 2,000 or not."
Paul R. Carrozza "I play full-court basketball once a week. I run about 10 times a week – they range from three to 12 miles. I keep the same routine you keep in college, which is one day of long intervals, one day of short intervals, one day of hills and one day of steady pace and then a long run. I also do technique drills three times a week, which are kind of like you'd see warming up for a basketball team or football team. Then I do circuits once a week, where I do a mile. Every 100 meters you do sit-ups, step ups, push ups or jumps for four laps on a track. That helps to give my whole body muscle balance, it helps avoid injuries and keeps my good posture. I train literally about three hours a day. Well, I do about an hour and a half in the morning and an hour at night. So, two and half hours a day."
Katherine Cosgrove "I workout daily. I run four to five miles, four times a week. I do spinning class twice a week, and usually an ellipitical or something the other day of the week. With that, I do weights or yoga (either/or) daily as well. It's not that intense. Some days are more intense than others. But I surely can find an hour or an hour and a half a day to make myself a healthier person."
Amanda Cromwell "When I'm in season, we train two or two and a half hours a day. We'll do some weight training. We might do scrimmage, fitness work, speed agility, and working on footwork. It changes depending on whether it's preseason or in season."
Pamela M. Danberg "In the morning I try to do 10 minutes of limbering and stretching. Then, during the day, I try to get over to the gym and do 30 minutes at least on the treadmill. It ends up being more realistically two to three times a week versus everyday. Weekends, I do a little bit of catchup. I swim also. I kind of alternate between swimming and the gym."
Danny Gable "I went through 40 years of wrestling so my body's been pushed to the extreme. I'm always in recovery mode. I normally get out of bed and I use a hot tub. I sit there for a while, then I get into a hot sauna. After that I take a nice cool shower and I'm ready for the day. By the time the afternoon comes I will go to a physical fitness center and I'll either do some things on the mat or I'll do a lot of stationary biking. I also do the cross-trainer. Then I do light weightlifting on the days I don't actually get on the mat. When I'm all done I relax again by sitting in the sauna or whirlpool."
Charles Moore "I do stretching and cycling. I do a lot of work with weights, a lot of work with machines, and a lot of work on balance – stepping up and down on a platform. It's a lot of deep-knee bending. It's quite a varied and balanced format. I do that for an hour or so – an hour workout for me is enough. I do it always in the morning, which is easiest for me because I can start the day and I am a whole, new person already. It's meant a lot to me."
Derek Parra "In the summer I do mostly bike riding or anything aerobic like running along with some skating. In the fall and winter it's a lot more skating. So there's at least two to three hours of skating every day plus a strength or aerobic workout, depending on the day. We'll skate during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning workouts and race on Saturday and Sunday. The afternoon workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday include a strength workout. Tuesday's an aerobic workout. It changes throughout the year because there's a period during the year when we're building in the summer and racing in the winter. I try to work out at least six hours a day, sometimes seven."
Lloyd Ward "I typically workout one hour, six days a week. Half the time aerobic and half the time strength. I build that in just like I build in a meeting I have anywhere else in my life. Part of my aerobics is running for 30 minutes, about four miles or I'll do karate. So I alternate daily." So now that you know what our Council members are doing, what's stopping you? Shut down your computer and get out and try something that gets more than just your fingers moving across a keyboard. While you're at it, take a family member with you or convince a friend or colleague to join in. Fitness is always more fun when you share it! |
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