Are You Looking to Stay Active This Winter?
Do you have a hard time staying active in winter?
Leaves are changing color, days are getting shorter, and the air temperature is getting a little bit more bite to it. That can only mean one thing……Hallmark Christmas season is right around the corner.
Just kidding.
Of course, it means that winter is on the way. If you’re anything like us, winter is the time of year when it gets a little bit more difficult to remain active. Couple that with the holiday food that will be all around us beginning Halloween and ending early January and we have a recipe for disaster!
The Be Well Chiropractic Lifestyle Program (BWCLP) wants to help you stay active this winter.
BWCLP Winter PAL Challenge
If you have been to the BWCLP classes you know that we are big on promoting higher physical activity levels (PAL), and believe it is more important than regular exercise. What’s the difference? Let’s say someone goes to the gym or goes running for an hour a day, but is inactive the rest of the day. If there are 24 hours in a day, that person is likely only active for 1 of those hours. What are they doing for the other 23 hours? That is where physical activity comes into play. PAL is the concept we push trying to keep people more active throughout the day, and is arguably more important than the hour of “burn” people look for when they go to the gym. You can read a little more about this in our “Less is More” article.
Beginning November 12, we are challenging you to get out and be more active in any way you can, including regular exercise. What does this look like? On top of your regular exercise, we encourage you to get out and go for 10-15 minute walks every time you eat (or when you need a break from work), play indoor pickle ball, go indoor rock climbing, do some cross country skiing when (if) it snows, aim for that elusive 10,000 steps a day, get on the bike any time snow doesn’t cover roads. The options are endless, we just want to hold each other accountable for maintaining a level of physical activity this winter beyond just what people would consider “exercise.” Basically, find things that you enjoy doing and that keep you active and do them!
How Do We Get Started?
Step one: Sign up at the front desk next time you’re in the office. There is no registration fee and all are welcome.
Step two: Download the app “Strava” on your phone and begin using it to track different types of activity. You can record walks, runs, bike rides, and can enter manual workouts in there too. A little playing around is all you need to figure the app out. Note: the free version of the app will work just fine.
Step three: Follow Matt on the Strava app. You can find him under “Matt Hartenburg.” He will begin following you as well.
Step four: From November 12- March 1 record your walks, skiing, biking, work outs, and all other activity you perform on the Strava app and Dr. Matt will monitor activity levels.
Remain active all winter and there will likely be some type of prize (other than the prize of remaining fit during the winter).
This is NOT a Weight Loss Challenge!
Weight loss challenges are dumb. Yes, I said it. They encourage people to make poor decisions just to lose a lot of weight quickly (and likely harm their metabolism in the long term).
This is not a weight loss challenge, it is a challenge to try to get people to enjoy being more active during the long and cold winter months. Getting more physical activity into your lives is very rewarding in and of itself. Yes, it may be cold outside. Dress warmer. It gets darker earlier. Go out in the middle of the day. If your boss won’t let you step away from your desk to go for a ten minute walk, tell them you took up smoking. (Kidding, of course).
We look forward to seeing a full sign up sheet and getting the add request on Strava!
