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Dee PT Gives You E.A.T!

Here at Dee Physical Therapy we see dozens of patients each week, most of whom walk out of our office with a list of prescribed exercises that, if done regularly, will greatly aid in their rehabilitation. On a number of occasions, when we see those same patients back in the following weeks, they have unfortunately regressed due to what they believe is lack of time in which to sit down, or stand up, and do those exercises.

The thought that there is no time to exercise in our busy lives isn’t a new concept; there is homework to do, kids to be carted to activities of all kinds, and a plethora of work and errands to be done on a daily basis. Then, when all that is taken care of and you’re finally home for the night, who wants to do a static lunge in their living room when there are so many binge-able shows on Netflix? So I get it, I do (actually I don’t, because I run about a million miles a day, but my receptionist gets it and she is currently giving me the evil eye because I mocked her Netflix habits). Regardless, I sympathize, and I want our patients and the public as a whole to realize that we all have time to get our exercise on- even with our hectic lives.

I will now take the next paragraph to be preachy (yet accurate and informative!):
We really need to make the commitment to ourselves to do some level of exercise five out of seven days a week. The American Heart Association suggests at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. That’s about 30 minutes per day, but you will benefit from two or three segments of 10-12 minutes of exercise per day. I’d like to present to you, the E.A.T concept. Exercise Anywhere Today (See what I did there?!). The concept behind E.A.T is to make time by breaking up your workout into small bouts, or sets, of exercises and do them whenever and where ever you can. You don’t need to throw on a Jane Fonda sweatband (though that would be awesome…) and go to the gym; you don’t need weights and machines and workout tapes. What you do need is a little bit of space and desire to get healthy!

To begin our E.A.T journey, I’d like to provide you with five lower body exercises that can be done anywhere and that will target the majority of muscle groups of the lower body. Five more upper body exercises will be coming soon! As with any exercise program, please be sure if you have any preexisting conditions to get yourself checked out by a Health Care professional prior to starting.

Front squat: place your feet shoulder width apart, keep your head up and your back flat, your shoulders over your knees, and your knees over your toes. Sit your hips back as you squat, keeping your abdominals tight and your spine still. Do these movements 12 times, rest, and then do another set of 12.
Here you see Healthy Living Cashier, Sarah Jacobs, and Cashier/Guest Services, Haley Newman, being great sports and demonstrating some front squats. Keep that back flat, Haley! Practice makes perfect!

Standing hip abduction: While standing, raise your leg out to the side at a 45 degree angle; keep your body upright while keeping your leg straight. Keep your abdominals tight and squeeze your glutes. Hold this position for 1 second, and then return to your starting position. Do these movements 12 times for each leg, rest, and then do another set of 12.
Katy Kent from Healthy Living’s Marketing team helps us demonstrate this exercise from the comfort of their abundant wine section! She shows us how you can do some standing hip abductions while picking out your favorite vintage!

Standing hamstring curl: Standing up tall, bend your knee so your heel moves towards your buttock. Hold for one second and return to starting position. Repeat 2 X 12 for both legs Standing hip extension: while standing move your leg back with knee straight. Keep your abdominals tight and squeeze your glutes. Hold for 1 second and return to starting position. Do these movements 12 times for each leg, rest, and then do another set of 12.
Here is Amber Voughan from the Produce Department hanging out with some fresh veggies while dong some great hamstring curls!

Standing heel raises: While standing raise up onto your toes and lift the heels off the ground. Hold for 1 second and lower back down. Do these movements 12 times, rest, and then do another set of 12.

Front End Lead, Shawn Corey, warms up the freezer section with some excellent standing heel raises!

Standing Hip Extension: While standing, mover your leg back while keeping your knee straight. Keep your abdominals tight and squeeze your glutes. Hold for one second and return to the starting position. Do these movements 12 times for each leg, rest, and then do another set of 12.

Sean Mitchell, one of Healthy Living’s resident cheese experts and an avid runner, helps us show some basics of this exercise. Thanks, Sean!

When doing these exercises, maintain good form throughout the movements. It’s better to do fewer repetitions with great form, then to try and finish the set with poor form. Have your family, friends, coworkers, or the person in line in front of you join in with the exercises!
So where will you do your exercises? At Healthy Living waiting for your Panini to heat up? At the bank while waiting in line? Maybe at your desk at work while talking on the phone? We’d love to see what you come up with, and to have you share all the places exercise can happen! Take a picture of where you do your exercises, and tag @deeptvt, with #ExerciseAnywhereToday, on Instagram or twitter, or post to Dee Physical Therapy’s Facebook page, and our favorite picture taker will be treated to a twenty-five dollar Healthy Living gift certificate! Extra points from me if you then post a picture of yourself doing the exercises while using your twenty-five dollar gift certificate…
We all have time we just need to take advantage of it; E.A.T. and make these five exercises part of your daily routine!

This post was written by Healthy Living Taste Maker Jason Fitzgerald of DeePT.