Health tip of the week

During the Pfizer Healthy Town programme, the people of Wexford will be doing their utmost to stay fit and Dr Julie Broderick, assistant professor in physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin, says there is an activity to suit all of us.

“Physical activity can be ‘planned’ or ‘unplanned’,” she says. “Examples of ‘planned activities’ can include going for a walk, dancing, running, cycling, yoga, football, swimming or many other activities. Brisk walking is a fantastic exercise for most people, is free and constitutes moderate exercise.

“If you have specific problems which make weight-bearing difficult, seated exercise like a stationary bike or pool-walking may be better for you. But be careful with pool-walking that you are not over-exerting yourself as it can be hard to monitor your level of exertion in the pool. Just make sure to make it interesting and mix it up.”

Dr Broderick says ‘unplanned activity’ can consist of incidental activity such as housework and general day-to-day tasks undertaken as part of daily living.

“Even if you are very fit and do lots of planned physical activity, if you are also very sedentary for long periods of each day – for example sitting at a desk, or watching television as most of us are – this can have negative effects on your health so engage in lots of ‘unplanned activity’ also.”

Fitness and running expert Mary Jennings also offers a few tips: “One of the biggest things we can do is just stand up and walk about,” she says. “Setting an alarm every hour just to remind you to move a little is a great start. Moving can be walking, stretching, strength exercises, whatever works for you, but make it something that you feel your body wants to do. You will be more likely to do it then. If possible, get outside too, even for just a few minutes every hour, and you will feel more than just the physical benefits.

“Don’t overdo it to start – a couple of minutes every hour or even a few times a day adds up. Go up and down the stairs, try a plank, some squats, stretch, even balance on one leg, just aim to move differently than you do all the time,” adds Jennings.

Health Tip of the Week is sponsored by Pfizer as part of its Healthy Town initiative. Every year Pfizer selects a town to take part in a unique initiative aimed at showing you – no matter what age you are, or where you live – simple steps to improve your health; irishtimes.com/sponsored/healthy-town. For more information visit irishheart.ie