Measuring Your Health Improvement

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How do you know your brisk walk or jogging is improving your health? First, you need to regularly check with your medical doctor. He or she can do tests to see if your health is improving or what needs to be adjusted.

Second, observe yourself. Do you still easily get tired after a short workout? Do you easily run out of breath after a short brisk walk? Or do you have a normal heart rate, normal breathing and still packed with energy after a prolonged period of workout compared before?

If you feel stronger after a long period of workouts or feel more able to do the same, then your health is improving. You'd also feel younger and easily move faster, too, without much effort.

When I recover from sickness (like now, I just had a bout of bad cough and cold) and re-start my workouts, I often feel easily exhausted initially. But after several days or weeks, I'd feel different---like I was 10 years younger. The thing here is never to force yourself to do a lot at once. Have the patience and discipline to gradually workout, give your body enough time to adjust. This works more to make you healthier and stronger rather than pushing yourself beyond your limit all of a sudden.

When I start again from zero, I start with leisurely walks. This is also true during times I slept late the night before and didn't have enough sleep. I just wander around early morning and enjoy the neighborhood. I also do light jogging-in-place and some shadow boxing. Then probably 10 push-ups and bend the spring bar twice or thrice.

Then I gradually work up from there.

Another way I see myself improving health-wise is when I eat just right but have enormous energy for physical activities. This means my body systems are all thumbs up. My body absorbs a lot of nutrients from the good foods I eat. Also, when I feel good and am easily patient, kind and understanding, I know I'm in tiptop shape. Being moody often means something's wrong with your health---physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

But these are just first aid measurements. I still see to it I consult my medical doctor, whether I feel good or not. And you should, too. Visit your doctor regularly.

Here's my e-book on how I keep healthy and fit doing simple workouts.

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The Switch from Brisk Walking to Jogging

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After you've been brisk walking long enough, you can gradually shift to jogging. I don't recommend anyone doing jogging or running at once. There has to be a gradual switching process. Even for young athletes.

What I mean is, young athletes should have a warm-up phase before breaking into a jog or run. The warm up can be a brisk walk for a minute or two. This makes running or jogging safe for the muscles, preventing them from suffering injury.

Injury is the number one thing you have to avoid, especially injury in your ankle tendons and ligaments, your forelegs and others. If you don't walk or jog properly. you can also develop injuries on your knees or hips. And this creates problems to your sports performance. whatever your sport is. And the first thing on proper walking or jogging is warm up.

With adults, I strongly recommend doing brisk walks for some months before switching to jogging. This conditions the leg muscles and the body before you take on a more strenuous course. In my case, I brisked walked for 2 years (after my muscle trauma incident) and then started to mix brisk walking with jogging.

Another time I stopped jogging for a while, I again started with brisk walks for some 6 months or so before I proceeded to jogging and running.

And that's another vital tip---initially mixing walking with jogging before doing full-swing jogging. And much later, mixing jogging with running, and then all three.

The important thing is to avoid shocking the body with sudden and intense workouts. Be gentle and kind with your body, even if you're still young, and give it time to adjust to new physical culture. Shocks against it will prove unhealthy (even dangerous) later, especially when age starts to get the better of you.

And the last but not least tip is to always consult your medical doctor first before trying any physical exercise. Yesterday, I was talking to a 74-year old guy at the Capitol Medical Center clinics. He underwent quadruple bypass recently even if he has been active with tennis since he was a teenager. And one colleague of his suddenly dropped dead right after bouts of tennis.

Why did all these happen?

They failed to check with a medical doctor. Never assume good health, although you feel in tiptop shape. Always consult your medical doctor, especially on brisk walking and jogging.

Okay, it's 6.30 am and time for me to go out and jog now! See you all later.

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When You Can't Brisk Walk

There are days when going out and brisk walking is impossible. Like during a storm or in rainy days. But I remember my dad undaunted by rainy days when he brisk-walked in the morning. He wore wooden sandals (bakya), salakot (a native hard hat) and raincoat and hit the streets with an umbrella.

But if you're not like my dad, then this option can be yours---squats in place.

Sometimes, my work keeps me glued to my seat and I can't even go out to jog--especially when I have deadlines to beat. What do I do? I do squats-in-place, aside from jogging-in-place. I do several sets of squats through the day. This means once in a while, I get up, leave the desktop and do squats. It's so easy.

You don't need a big space or special equipment. As long as you can stand and sit where you are, you can do squats. You can be in your office attire (if you're an employee} or you can be in your shorts or underwear (half-naked) if you're a freelancer working at home like me.

Squats workout the legs, forelegs, ankles, a bit of the tummy, butt and your heart and lungs. It's a good workout and you may do it with or without extra weights. Your own body weight will do, especially if you're not competing professionally and just want to stay trim like me.

If you prefer heavier squat workouts, then carry some weights with your hands. You may hold dumbbells or do squats with a barbell. Or you may carry a sack of rice on your shoulders.

When I was in college, I used to do about 200 squats or more, 50 or more per set in 4 sets. Everyday before I left for university. Today, I narrowed it down to 15 to 20 per set, augmenting it with outdoor jogs and jogging-in-place. But I aim to recover the 200+ squats, Godwilling.

I do my squats by sitting on my forelegs and then standing up straight.

But then, after my squat sets, sometimes I begin to miss the outdoors. So there are times I still go out in the late afternoon to do my jogs or brisk walks.

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How to Start Your Very First Brisk Walk and Determine to Keep Up

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It's not like sky diving or skiing or basketball which are optional. You can choose to do them or not. But brisk walking is different. We ALL should brisk walk to keep healthy and fit, especially when you're advancing in age.

You have to start brisk walking now.

And starting is easy. Simply go out and start walking. Do it in the clothes you now have on. It doesn't require a special uniform or getup to brisk walk. I do it with slippers on my feet and even while wearing maong jeans---although wearing something loose is better.

Do it 30 to 40 minutes a day or every other day.

I always consider it a fast leisurely walk. I'm not in a hurry but I maintain two steps per second, and sometimes I go a bit faster. I take long strides, but not too long. Most of all, I enjoy God, the scenery, the neighborhood and other brisk walkers and joggers I meet.

When I started my first jog when I was in grade 7 (at 4 am in the morning), I felt strange and foolish. Back then, jogging in the streets was out of this world. Joggers did it only at the Luneta Park. So, when my neighbors saw me jogging in our streets, they laughed.

Aside from that, there's always that eeriness when you are a newbie at something. "Am I really going to jog?" It was like my first time to shoot a basketball. "Am I really going to play basketball?" But don't let negativity like that bother you. Just think---"I have to do this. I have to be healthy."

So that's the first thing you need to do to start your first brisk walk. Convince yourself that it's not just an option or you'd just try it today. You have to do it starting today. And then enjoy it.

I love walking early mornings when sunlight just tickles your skin and everything is fresh, cool and gentle. I love watching around me how a day starts and how people go about it. Often, I watch how birds start their activities, and they always start by playing and singing. And then later they get down to work. I think we should learn from them.

Sometimes, I brisk walk with my wife in the late afternoons. She's a busy grade school teacher and I have to remind her of her need to brisk walk. I tell her to relax or nap for 20 minutes when she gets home from school and then we'd go out for a brisk walk. Sometimes, I teach her some arnis lessons. Well, this 2017, I think we'd do it more frequent, even with the kids.

It's so easy to start and maintain a brisk walk daily routine. The thing is, tell yourself always, you have to do it. You have no choice.

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