Making Yourself Move More as a Caregiver
You probably feel like you move quite a bit as a caregiver because you spend all day running from one task to another. But if you’re not getting actual exercise in, you need to figure out a plan.
Home Care Services in Fairfax County VA: Making Yourself Move
Keep Exercise Simple Instead of Complex
Lots of people get the bug to start exercising and wind up with all these complicated plans for joining a gym and starting elaborate workouts. That kind of plan doesn’t tend to last long because it’s not going to fit into your life. If the gym is too far away or just inconvenient to get to, you’re going to skip it. Then you’re going to find the rest of the plan falling apart because it doesn’t match up with your vision. Keep it simple.
Work out Here and There
You don’t have to work out for an hour every day all in a one-time span. You can take a walk in the morning, do some yoga in the afternoon, and lift a couple of weights after lunch. It’s all in moving more often, not just in one set span of time. It also helps if you can think about your workouts as simply ways to add a little more movement into every day.
Sneak in Some Challenges
After you’ve added in a daily walk, up the exertion level a bit. You might start to walk faster or walk for a little bit longer each time. Adding in a few challenges here and there keeps you interested and it helps you to do a little bit more than you were doing before. Remember that at first, your challenge is consistency. It’s only once you build up consistency that you need to worry about other challenges.
Set Realistic Goals
You need to set some goals for yourself, but they need to be realistic. If they’re not realistic, you’re not going to shoot for them after a while, because what’s the point? Work with your own doctor to figure out what’s realistic for you and then formulate some exercise goals around that information.
Mix Things Up
When you stick with one type of exercise for a while, you’re going to get stuck in a rut. Besides that, your body needs a variety of all sorts of movement in order to be healthier. Get some cardio in, but also find time for strength training and for stretching. All of these types of movement have merit.
You might feel as if you don’t have the time or the energy to start working out. But you’re going to experience better sleep, better moods, and better energy levels if you do start exercising. That’s going to pay off for you as a caregiver and is worth trying, even for a little while.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care Services in Fairfax County, VA, please contact the caring staff at LivinRite Home Care. Call Us Today at (703) 634-9991.
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