One Great Fitness App, When It's Hard to Get Moving

Dancing in the window

‪If you pass my house at certain times of day you may catch a glimpse of a small blonde person, dancing carefree, arms moving to a beat, uninhibitedly past the living room windows. 

This is not because I have gone completely out of my mind. 

More that I have finally got my mind around a great method to get moving. 

Six years ago, I was running up to 15 miles a week, doing yoga and  taking step and weight classes at the JCC. I was very focused on fitness.

Then life interrupted my workouts....

 Serious family illnesses, a new desk job, heart and brain surgeries all took turns in throwing my exercise routine into a tailspin.

Often, I couldn't get out the house, never mind keep an exercise routine going.

What brought it to a complete halt was the six months I spent by my husband's side as he went through an incredibly debilitating illness, long hospital stay, brain surgery and recovery. I spent a long time pondering on our porch watching people come and go, but not moving myself.

I had all the excuses wrapped up -I couldn't leave him and I was bone tired.

My friends tried to encourage me to walk with them. I trailed along, my mind elsewhere and my body wanting to be home. After twenty minutes I would get anxious to return and we would retrace our steps.

Today I think many of us are suffering from sitting syndrome! And the medical evidence from the National Institutes of Health is scary about what it is doing to our bodies. 

It could be that our jobs require us to look at a computer screen for long lengths of time, completely unaware of the hours that have passed.

It could be because we are caregivers tied to our homes and families and unable to find that half an hour for ourselves.

It could be that we can't afford or do not want to spend the money on gym membership and it's hard to take a walk outside due to the weather or the lack of an appropriate walking environment.

Whatever the reason I knew I needed to find an answer that worked with my unpredictable, sit-down life and I am thinking will fit with yours.

As I have been sitting long hours to write, I realized that making the effort to get up, needed to be more regimented. 

Then I saw a review of a free app for iphone and ipads aptly named STANDAPP in the Boston Globe on-line. This was a review for people working in office jobs but I think this app has a far greater reach than that.

This is how StandApp explains its rationale:

StandApp promotes healthy living by providing an alarm reminder to stand up and take a break from your desk.


StandApp includes 15 easy exercises anyone can perform at their desk during their standing breaks. 


You can set the reminder interval to a custom time, we recommend a break at least every hour. 



Experts say avoiding the sedentary life is mostly about remembering to be active. Even people who work a desk job for 60 hours each week can still work movement into their days — getting up for a cup of water instead of keeping one at your desk, walking down the hall to talk to a colleague rather than sending an email.

 StandApp keeps you accountable to this task.

What I love about StandApp is that it reminds you to get up out of your chair, over and over. I prefer to be dancing than doing specific exercises, so I have found songs on YouTube that are 5 minutes long -It's Raining Men is a favorite of mine. 

Pick a reminder time

I play it on my iphone and dance round the house.Hence the sightings of that crazy blonde person I mentioned earlier. 

When five minutes are up, the App tells me to "get back to work!" 6 five minute sessions -give me a half-hour workout if I can't get out the house. 

I wish I'd known about this app when my husband was sick. I could have kept moving without leaving home, in short bursts, motivated by an ifriend focused on self-care, on a regular basis. 

Five minutes is doable even if you are tired and if you want to do ten, you can reset the timer for another 5 minutes. 

I think this app is

A caregiver's friend,

A recovering patient's strength builder.

A parent's in-house exercise reminder, 

An office desk worker's reprieve. 

As much as possible, I try to walk for at least half an hour a day as well as using this app. But there are days when it is impossible and that's when StandApp really comes in to its own and saves me from becoming a couch potato. 

If you want to join me for a quick dance, come on over!

How do you remember to stand up and take moving breaks in the day? 

What prevents you from doing so?

Leave me a message and tell me how you motivate yourself to exercise below.

Happy Dancing!

Gillyx

PS. StandApp did not ask me to endorse their product! I just like it.

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 Please email me at gilly@bringingbooksofcomfort.org or leave a comment on this post below. I'd love to have your feedback. 

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