THE SUPER DAD’S

Since June marks Father's Day, we give you a foolproof plan for daddies on the go

Most of us know that keeping a healthy and strong body is essential for optimal performance, prevention of disease, and resistance to stress. However, for most dads who work hard to earn a living, health usually comes last in the list of priorities. With numerous meetings, tight deadlines, and hectic/stressful schedules, most dads often tend to forget about leading a healthy lifestyle and resort to unhealthy habits like inactivity ( lack of exercise), overeating, junk food binges, drinking ( alcohol), and smoking just to cope up with the stress.

The good thing though is that most health experts recommend regular exercise and proper eating habits for people who need to be more productive at work and resistant to stress. In a study done by the University of California in 2010, researchers found that even with short bouts of exercise ( 30 to 40 minutes, three times a week), subjects showed reduced levels of overall stress and actually felt the stress-buffering effects of exercise.

Yet, despite all the reminders and options available, most dads still have a hard time getting the recommended regular dose to make their regular fitness efforts result in better health, increased productivity, and resistance to stress. Therefore, a call for a new strategy toward better physical activity and a healthier diet is needed. Here are several tips that you can follow right away to a healthy lifestyle:

START A WALKING PROGRAM

Walking is the easiest form of exercise. You don’t need special equipment or pay gym membership fees. You can walk in the park, in the mall, or around the village. Start with a 15- minute session and work your way up to more minutes per day. You can do it in several installments throughout the day. In the long term, you should be able to walk at least 40 to 60 minutes per day. Add walking breaks in the office like using the stairs to go to different departments/ floors or walk around the office instead of sending online messages to fellow coworkers. The key is to get you off the chair and move around.

KEEP A TREASURE CHEST

Keep a stash of healthy snacks in the office or in the car. These snacks help you stay away from unhealthy items like chips and sweets. Make sure you have several handy snacks like granola bars, wheat crackers, and yogurt. They also make for easy meals especially when you’re on the go.

YOUR BODY IS YOUR MACHINE

Simple bodyweight exercises like push- ups, sit- ups, and squats/ lunges work as well as weight machines in developing overall body strength and tone. Start an easy routine of 20 to 30 repetitions of push- ups, sit- ups, and squats and do it three times a week. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes a day, but it delivers amazing strength gains.

GET PERSONAL WITH YOUR TRAINING AND SET SELF- REMINDERS

Setting up reminders ( on your phone, for example) to let you know that it’s time to eat lunch will help you avoid skipping meals, which is known to lead to overeating later on in the day and may even cause stomach ulcers in the long run. Set up alarms in your computer to remind you to stretch and take regular walking breaks. Getting regular stretches and walking breaks during office hours help avoid chronic low back pain.

JUMP YOUR WAY TO FITNESS

You can do jumping jacks or bring a jump rope to work. By doing this for just 15 minutes, you can burn up to 200 calories instantly.

DANCE AWAY YOUR TROUBLES

Dancing in any form can instantly amount to 100 calories for 20 minutes of effort. So turn up the volume of your iPod and dance away in the privacy of your office — you can also opt to download a dance fitness video on your phone and squeeze in a quick dance workout.

WATER BOTTLES = INSTANT DUMBBELLS

Use water bottles as makeshift dumbbells so you can instantly do familiar gym exercises like biceps curls, shoulder presses, and weighted lunges/squats. They add more resistance to your in- office gym routine.