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Clicking from couch potato to fitness freak

“In the last week alone, Nintendo rolled out the Wii Fit, a new game for its popular gaming console dedicated purely to lounge-room fitness, and Samsung introduced the miCoach mobile handset in partnership with adidas.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 5:42 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Clicking from couch potato to fitness freak”

  1. Iestyn Says:
    March 18th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    Hi Beti,

    I have a couple of questions I hope you might be able to answer.

    I remember you did a show on stretching and that you mentioned that
    you stretch each morning (I think). I feel quite stiff and really need
    to get into the routine of stretching, what stretches should i do
    every morning? Is there a chart available that I could purchase or
    download off the internet so I could stick it up on my wall? Having it
    in front of me would motivate me to do it more.

    My partner recently gave birth to our first son, it has been six weeks
    now and she feels that she would like to start to try losing the
    excess weight she has put on during the pregnancy, and want’s me to be
    her coach!!. The problem is she has never done any exercise, she’s one
    of those people that has always looked great no matter what she ate
    and remained a steady 8stone. She hates the gym, allways had a note
    for school PE and hates anything that is repetitive, so to begin
    with , what sort of exercise is safe for her and is there anything I
    can do to motivate her and not let her get bored. I know that Wii Fit
    is coming out soon, but I simply can’t afford a Wii.

    Sorry to have such a long question.

    Thanks for continuously providing an excellent podcast.

    Kind regards

    Iestyn

    Caernarfon, Wales, UK

  2. beti Says:
    March 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    Hi Lestyn :)

    Thanks for the questions and for sharing with everyone.

    Firstly, congratulations for your first son:)

    If you are feeling stiff, you are right, you do need to stretch, but you also need to exercise :)

    1. Make sure you are involved in cardio activity at least 20mins per day (walking, cycling, dancing, anything active you like).
    2. Resistance training activity at least once a week.
    3. Stretching - ensure you hold your stretches for 10-15sec here are some great links:
    http://www.betipt.com/facts/betipt_stretch.html
    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/343159625_974ff4c85e_b.jpg
    http://pack152.net/Webelos/WebelosActivityBadges/Athlete/StretchingExcercises2.jpg
    http://pack152.net/Webelos/WebelosActivityBadges/Athlete/StretchingExcercises1.jpg

    Remember to always have warm muscles before stretching… so it is best to stretch after your workout. Never bounce on the stretch, just take it slowly to its end point and hold for 10-15sec.

    I did a podcast with images that you can view as you stretch:
    http://health.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_healthandfitness_20061227_047.m4a

    Re your partner:
    Breastfeeding usually helps with the weight loss… so if she can breast feed, that is a great for losing fat quickly.
    She can do nearly everything at this point in terms of activity, unless her OBGYN has specified activities to avoid - it is best to ask the doc anyway. You can engage in several different activities that are not gym related and that can involve bub too. Walking is great, and anything else she likes to do that is active…
    Dancing, Climbing, Walking… the list goes on.
    The following two links are in Australia, but there should be similar programs in the UK.
    http://www.deborahjohnsondancecentre.com.au/DescptMumsAndBubs.aspx
    http://www.fitnessprammotion.com.au/
    Just a careful note for your partner. She must be very careful not to overstretch at this time.

    I hope this information has been helpful.

    be fit and stay healthy,
    beti

  3. Iestyn Lloyd Says:
    March 18th, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    Thanks very much, great advice. I forgot to mention that I do exercise quite regularly but only stretch a small amount (which I know is bad) I should warm up properly, which I should be able to do now with your podcast with the images and the charts, thanks.

    I have noticed that my partner is losing weight without doing much and is breast feeding. I shall try to go out walking with her to start off with whilst we try to find some post natal friendly schemes in the area. The bad thing about living here is that the weather isn’t that kind towards outdoor exercise.

    I look forward to your next podcast.

    Kind regards

    Iestyn

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