Selected Podcast
Exercise is Optional, Movement is Mandatory
Jeanmarie Scordino explains why movement is necessary to a healthy lifestyle.
Featured Speaker:
Ms. Scordino holds the following certifications:
•Fellow in Applied Functional Science (FAFS)
•Certification in Applied Functional Science (CAFS)
•American College of Sports Medicine- Clinical Exercise Physiologist
•National Sports and Conditioning Association- Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach
•American Council on Exercise- Certified Medical Exercise Specialist
•Clinical Health Coach
Jeanmarie Scordino, MEd
Jeanmarie Scordino M.Ed, has over 30 years of experience as an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, clinical health coach and sport conditioning coach. Jeanmarie currently works at BayCare, where she is actively involved in creating wellness solutions for employers. An industry expert in wellness education and promoting the values of health and wellness for the hospital system and surrounding community.Ms. Scordino holds the following certifications:
•Fellow in Applied Functional Science (FAFS)
•Certification in Applied Functional Science (CAFS)
•American College of Sports Medicine- Clinical Exercise Physiologist
•National Sports and Conditioning Association- Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach
•American Council on Exercise- Certified Medical Exercise Specialist
•Clinical Health Coach
Transcription:
Exercise is Optional, Movement is Mandatory
Melanie Cole (Host): Exercise may be optional, but movement is mandatory. Today, we’re talking to Jeanmarie Scordino. She’s an Exercise Physiologist with BayCare. Jeanmarie, I’m so glad to have you with us. What I just said in my intro, what does that mean and what does it mean to get regular physical activity?
Jeanmarie Scordino, MEd (Guest): Well thank you very much for having me and that is probably one of my favorite passion statements or sticky statements is that exercise is optional, movement is mandatory. So many times, people hit the barrier of the word exercise and go I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to get sweaty. I don’t want to have to drive someplace. I don’t want to have to do that and people look at me. But we have to understand that adding more quality movement to our lives is important. And we have to find ways to add that in little exercise snacks or little moments of movement throughout the day so that we can build on our total cardiac capacity.
So, how do we do that? One is, it’s great if we can get the 30 minutes a day that is recommended by American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine and that is ideal. But for people who haven’t done anything yet, that can be very daunting. So, we start by saying let’s just start adding a few minutes here and there and see if we maybe by the end of the day, can get a total of 30 more minutes of movement into our lives. So that we can maybe take the stairs a little bit more or turn some music on when we are at home and doing our laundry and kind of move around a bit or go out and take a walk when you get home from work and just kind of loop the neighborhood and get some movement there. That way we start creating more circulation to the body, getting the heart to be stronger, getting the muscles to be stronger and bringing us down that path towards better health.
Host: Well that’s certainly great advice and I’ve heard so many people over the years Jeanmarie, say I have no time to exercise. But we have to make time like brushing your teeth. It’s something you just have to incorporate. So, what kinds of exercise if they were going to do formal exercise; what do you want people to know about just getting started and maybe taking that walk. Give us a way to get started.
Jeanmarie: The great way to start is start doing something you like because you are more apt to continue doing something if you enjoy it. So, find something you like to do or someone you like to do it with and then start moving down that path and start off slow. You don’t have to be at the end of the spectrum in the first week that you start something. So, I like to get people to start walking because I always say, what do you want to do when you are 90? Would you like to still be walking? So, it’s a good thing to practice now. So, if you can add some little moments of movement.
But we also want to make sure that we’re creating a good sphere of function around us. As we age and we sit at a desk for a long time or sit in our car, at our computers; we kind of lose some of our range of motion. Maybe we had some injuries or some illnesses that kind of kept us from moving a certain way. So, we want to stop and think how can I maybe increase that range of motion? If I want to exercise, I want to either do it so that I can be better at what I want to do or counterbalance what I’m doing too much of. So, like I said before, we all want to walk. So, we want to do something that’s going to help us to walk better and make sure we have good endurance, good strength to go over the terrain that we need. It might be that we want to play tennis, or we want to run around with our grandchildren. So, we want to think about what kind of movements exercises are going to help me to be better at doing that.
And then, we want to do things that are going to counterbalance what we’re doing too much of and for most of us I would say sitting is it. So, we want to do things that are going to stand us up, that they are going to extend us, that they are going to have us rotate our body and move so that we can make sure we’re moving front and back, side to side, rotation. Think about a beach ball. We want to make sure the beachball that’s around us is as big as possible in our sphere of motion.
Host: Well that certainly is true. And when people want to start walking; there is a lot of tech out there now. There’s apps and there’s Fitbits and there’s all these things. How do you think that those can help people? If you want us to include our daily tasks or move around a little bit more when we are doing laundry or cooking; can those help us to kind of keep track that we are getting that 30 minutes? What do you think of them?
Jeanmarie: Oh, I think they’re great. They are a great tool. And that’s what they are. It’s a tool to help you to figure out how much you are doing. They help you to have a little accountability so that you’re kind of looking and oh I didn’t get enough steps today. I need to get a little more motion in my life. They are a way for you to maybe play with some friends where you can have a little healthy competition about who can get the most steps. So, it’s a great way to boost motivation as well as accountability in getting that total amount of movement minutes that you are getting during the day.
Because a lot of people forget that, that moment where you climb those extra stairs or you kind of wander around the house while you are doing your laundry and move and not just sit on the couch folding the clothes, can assist in adding those moments into your life of building up. Because it is cumulative. Granted, it’s not going to be as impactful for your heart and weightloss as getting that 30 minute bout in. But when you start adding those little minutes, it allows you to build a base of fitness and make it more of a habit where it becomes a little bit more natural for you to do this. And it becomes an easier next step to do those longer bouts of exercise then. So, you can maybe get a little higher intensity going on and get a little bit more cardiovascular benefit out of that.
Host: Well one of the big things that I’ve heard over the years Jeanmarie, is motivation. Maybe they get this motivation, they start, they take those walks, they buy their Fitbit, they get themselves all set and then a couple of weeks later, that motivation wanes. And they haven’t seen the results yet that they want, and so as a result; they don’t necessarily have that motivation to continue. What do you tell people every day about maintaining that motivation, even increasing it so that they can keep going and see the results they are looking for?
Jeanmarie: You’re right. You just hear that so often. First of all, people want things to happen, they want them to happen yesterday. So, you’ve got to make sure that they are getting some realistic expectations of what the effort that they are putting in and the benefit they’re going to get. But with that, you have to also figure out why making this change in their life is important for that person. Sometimes it’s good to talk to health coach or a trainer to kind of help you draw that idea out or sometimes you just need to stop and really think as to what is important for me. If I were to make this health change that’s going to help me to have better health, to decrease my chances of illness, to be able to have more energy; that all sounds good but why is that important to you? And if you can tap into someone’s why that it’s important to them; you’ve kind of got them and they’re going to be willing to do what they need to do to get there. They may hear us say things and go, yeah that sounds really good, it makes sense to me, good to go. And I’m just going to do it.
But then, once they start doing it like you said, they lost that motivation. But if it’s because they want to really be around to see their grandchildren grow up and have the energy to play with them, or to be able to beat their husband while they are playing tennis; those kind of whys that tap into their own little individual hot buttons are really a great way to keep that motivation up and have something that really means something to you while you are doing that. And then, accountability. You need someone to know what you’re doing and to help you to maintain that.
No one has the biggest, greatest ability to do everything. It’s the fact that we take it in small bite sized chunks and we’re able to take one step at a time and then we have somebody who we are accountable to. So, whether it’s our spouse, a friend, the Fitbit that we have, the tracking sheet we keep on our computer; but something whatever hits how you like to track things, journaling is a great way, then you are going to be able to boost your motivation and keep going on that path.
And I always like to say, we’re not perfect. Life gets in the way. So, when you do fall off and don’t do what you had planned on doing; don’t beat yourself up about it. It happens. Get up and move on and start again and get back onto the path again and don’t let it defeat you.
Host: Well certainly that’s true. And while you’re talking about journaling which I feel is such a great way to keep track and as you say accountability, even just accountability to yourself, reading in the mirror what you’ve written down as your activity or what you ate that day; how can we, as we wrap up Jeanmarie, set those smart goals. Because planning is essential and so what do you want the listeners to know about setting those goals, making a plan, writing it down and implementing it so that really it works.
Jeanmarie: Well, it is important. It needs to be individual. You need to think about what is important to you and what changes do you want to make or need to be making in your life and make it personal to you. Figure out what your why is. Why is making this change going to be something that you are willing to do? And then start by making goals that are achievable, so you don’t want to start too big. Just think about what can I do for the next five days? What can I do today if you are really having trouble doing it and take one day at a time. And say, I’m going to add five more minutes of movement to my day. I’m going to add one more drink of water. You want to make sure that they’re specific. You’re not just going to say I’m going to move more; because then there’s nothing to be accountable for.
So, you can write down a list of what is your why. What is your end goal that you are trying to achieve? And then specifically, what are you going to do to get there? And then each time your reach your first level of goals, check that off and reassess and say heh, that was great. I did a great job at this, but I need to work harder on this. And then you can adapt your goals and then move forward from there. So, whether you are tracking it in a written form, a tally sheet, on your Smartphone or with a friend in a conversation, you want to kind of make sure that you are getting all of those things down.
And think about how can I start adding more movement into my day? How can I add five minute breaks throughout my work day, take a little ten minute walk at the end of the day. Maybe go out and start a new sport or find a new friend to go do some - a new yoga class with. Find things that you enjoy to do and that are going to help you fell better in the long run and once you start feeling better and getting a little bit more energy; all the other changes that you need, the scale comes down, your blood pressure maybe comes back, your neck just doesn’t hurt quite so much; will start happening also.
Host: Certainly, great information Jeanmarie. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise and helping people to get healthier because that’s what it’s all about. And that concludes this episode of BayCare HealthChat. Please visit our website at www.baycare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. For more health tips and updates follow us on your social channels. I’m Melanie Cole.
Exercise is Optional, Movement is Mandatory
Melanie Cole (Host): Exercise may be optional, but movement is mandatory. Today, we’re talking to Jeanmarie Scordino. She’s an Exercise Physiologist with BayCare. Jeanmarie, I’m so glad to have you with us. What I just said in my intro, what does that mean and what does it mean to get regular physical activity?
Jeanmarie Scordino, MEd (Guest): Well thank you very much for having me and that is probably one of my favorite passion statements or sticky statements is that exercise is optional, movement is mandatory. So many times, people hit the barrier of the word exercise and go I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to get sweaty. I don’t want to have to drive someplace. I don’t want to have to do that and people look at me. But we have to understand that adding more quality movement to our lives is important. And we have to find ways to add that in little exercise snacks or little moments of movement throughout the day so that we can build on our total cardiac capacity.
So, how do we do that? One is, it’s great if we can get the 30 minutes a day that is recommended by American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine and that is ideal. But for people who haven’t done anything yet, that can be very daunting. So, we start by saying let’s just start adding a few minutes here and there and see if we maybe by the end of the day, can get a total of 30 more minutes of movement into our lives. So that we can maybe take the stairs a little bit more or turn some music on when we are at home and doing our laundry and kind of move around a bit or go out and take a walk when you get home from work and just kind of loop the neighborhood and get some movement there. That way we start creating more circulation to the body, getting the heart to be stronger, getting the muscles to be stronger and bringing us down that path towards better health.
Host: Well that’s certainly great advice and I’ve heard so many people over the years Jeanmarie, say I have no time to exercise. But we have to make time like brushing your teeth. It’s something you just have to incorporate. So, what kinds of exercise if they were going to do formal exercise; what do you want people to know about just getting started and maybe taking that walk. Give us a way to get started.
Jeanmarie: The great way to start is start doing something you like because you are more apt to continue doing something if you enjoy it. So, find something you like to do or someone you like to do it with and then start moving down that path and start off slow. You don’t have to be at the end of the spectrum in the first week that you start something. So, I like to get people to start walking because I always say, what do you want to do when you are 90? Would you like to still be walking? So, it’s a good thing to practice now. So, if you can add some little moments of movement.
But we also want to make sure that we’re creating a good sphere of function around us. As we age and we sit at a desk for a long time or sit in our car, at our computers; we kind of lose some of our range of motion. Maybe we had some injuries or some illnesses that kind of kept us from moving a certain way. So, we want to stop and think how can I maybe increase that range of motion? If I want to exercise, I want to either do it so that I can be better at what I want to do or counterbalance what I’m doing too much of. So, like I said before, we all want to walk. So, we want to do something that’s going to help us to walk better and make sure we have good endurance, good strength to go over the terrain that we need. It might be that we want to play tennis, or we want to run around with our grandchildren. So, we want to think about what kind of movements exercises are going to help me to be better at doing that.
And then, we want to do things that are going to counterbalance what we’re doing too much of and for most of us I would say sitting is it. So, we want to do things that are going to stand us up, that they are going to extend us, that they are going to have us rotate our body and move so that we can make sure we’re moving front and back, side to side, rotation. Think about a beach ball. We want to make sure the beachball that’s around us is as big as possible in our sphere of motion.
Host: Well that certainly is true. And when people want to start walking; there is a lot of tech out there now. There’s apps and there’s Fitbits and there’s all these things. How do you think that those can help people? If you want us to include our daily tasks or move around a little bit more when we are doing laundry or cooking; can those help us to kind of keep track that we are getting that 30 minutes? What do you think of them?
Jeanmarie: Oh, I think they’re great. They are a great tool. And that’s what they are. It’s a tool to help you to figure out how much you are doing. They help you to have a little accountability so that you’re kind of looking and oh I didn’t get enough steps today. I need to get a little more motion in my life. They are a way for you to maybe play with some friends where you can have a little healthy competition about who can get the most steps. So, it’s a great way to boost motivation as well as accountability in getting that total amount of movement minutes that you are getting during the day.
Because a lot of people forget that, that moment where you climb those extra stairs or you kind of wander around the house while you are doing your laundry and move and not just sit on the couch folding the clothes, can assist in adding those moments into your life of building up. Because it is cumulative. Granted, it’s not going to be as impactful for your heart and weightloss as getting that 30 minute bout in. But when you start adding those little minutes, it allows you to build a base of fitness and make it more of a habit where it becomes a little bit more natural for you to do this. And it becomes an easier next step to do those longer bouts of exercise then. So, you can maybe get a little higher intensity going on and get a little bit more cardiovascular benefit out of that.
Host: Well one of the big things that I’ve heard over the years Jeanmarie, is motivation. Maybe they get this motivation, they start, they take those walks, they buy their Fitbit, they get themselves all set and then a couple of weeks later, that motivation wanes. And they haven’t seen the results yet that they want, and so as a result; they don’t necessarily have that motivation to continue. What do you tell people every day about maintaining that motivation, even increasing it so that they can keep going and see the results they are looking for?
Jeanmarie: You’re right. You just hear that so often. First of all, people want things to happen, they want them to happen yesterday. So, you’ve got to make sure that they are getting some realistic expectations of what the effort that they are putting in and the benefit they’re going to get. But with that, you have to also figure out why making this change in their life is important for that person. Sometimes it’s good to talk to health coach or a trainer to kind of help you draw that idea out or sometimes you just need to stop and really think as to what is important for me. If I were to make this health change that’s going to help me to have better health, to decrease my chances of illness, to be able to have more energy; that all sounds good but why is that important to you? And if you can tap into someone’s why that it’s important to them; you’ve kind of got them and they’re going to be willing to do what they need to do to get there. They may hear us say things and go, yeah that sounds really good, it makes sense to me, good to go. And I’m just going to do it.
But then, once they start doing it like you said, they lost that motivation. But if it’s because they want to really be around to see their grandchildren grow up and have the energy to play with them, or to be able to beat their husband while they are playing tennis; those kind of whys that tap into their own little individual hot buttons are really a great way to keep that motivation up and have something that really means something to you while you are doing that. And then, accountability. You need someone to know what you’re doing and to help you to maintain that.
No one has the biggest, greatest ability to do everything. It’s the fact that we take it in small bite sized chunks and we’re able to take one step at a time and then we have somebody who we are accountable to. So, whether it’s our spouse, a friend, the Fitbit that we have, the tracking sheet we keep on our computer; but something whatever hits how you like to track things, journaling is a great way, then you are going to be able to boost your motivation and keep going on that path.
And I always like to say, we’re not perfect. Life gets in the way. So, when you do fall off and don’t do what you had planned on doing; don’t beat yourself up about it. It happens. Get up and move on and start again and get back onto the path again and don’t let it defeat you.
Host: Well certainly that’s true. And while you’re talking about journaling which I feel is such a great way to keep track and as you say accountability, even just accountability to yourself, reading in the mirror what you’ve written down as your activity or what you ate that day; how can we, as we wrap up Jeanmarie, set those smart goals. Because planning is essential and so what do you want the listeners to know about setting those goals, making a plan, writing it down and implementing it so that really it works.
Jeanmarie: Well, it is important. It needs to be individual. You need to think about what is important to you and what changes do you want to make or need to be making in your life and make it personal to you. Figure out what your why is. Why is making this change going to be something that you are willing to do? And then start by making goals that are achievable, so you don’t want to start too big. Just think about what can I do for the next five days? What can I do today if you are really having trouble doing it and take one day at a time. And say, I’m going to add five more minutes of movement to my day. I’m going to add one more drink of water. You want to make sure that they’re specific. You’re not just going to say I’m going to move more; because then there’s nothing to be accountable for.
So, you can write down a list of what is your why. What is your end goal that you are trying to achieve? And then specifically, what are you going to do to get there? And then each time your reach your first level of goals, check that off and reassess and say heh, that was great. I did a great job at this, but I need to work harder on this. And then you can adapt your goals and then move forward from there. So, whether you are tracking it in a written form, a tally sheet, on your Smartphone or with a friend in a conversation, you want to kind of make sure that you are getting all of those things down.
And think about how can I start adding more movement into my day? How can I add five minute breaks throughout my work day, take a little ten minute walk at the end of the day. Maybe go out and start a new sport or find a new friend to go do some - a new yoga class with. Find things that you enjoy to do and that are going to help you fell better in the long run and once you start feeling better and getting a little bit more energy; all the other changes that you need, the scale comes down, your blood pressure maybe comes back, your neck just doesn’t hurt quite so much; will start happening also.
Host: Certainly, great information Jeanmarie. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise and helping people to get healthier because that’s what it’s all about. And that concludes this episode of BayCare HealthChat. Please visit our website at www.baycare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. For more health tips and updates follow us on your social channels. I’m Melanie Cole.