Announcer: This is BayCare HealthChat, another podcast from BayCare Health System.

Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to BayCare HealthChat. I'm Deborah Howell, and I invite you to listen as we talk about how to stay active while working at home and share some at-home exercise tips so you can stay motivated. I'm joined today by Dr. Fred Brennan, Jr., a family and sports medicine physician here at BayCare.

Dr. Brennan, it is a true pleasure to have you with us today.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Thanks, Deborah. Great to be here. I appreciate the invitation.

Deborah Howell (Host): So I understand you're one of the team physicians for the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the MLB Toronto Blue Jays. And you also enjoy skiing and running in triathlons yourself. So, you know, a thing or two about the importance of staying fit, right?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Well, you know, it's always been something in my life that I've always really made a priority. I think that for me, honestly, when I get out of shape, which we all do at times, I just don't feel well. So yes, I've always sort of made it a priority to stay fit and try to maintain wellness that way.

Deborah Howell (Host): Understand. Can you kindly give us some tips to stay motivated while we're working from home or caring for children at home?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: You know, it's tricky. I think one of the big tips I can have for people to stay motivated and exercise is really make it a priority. I mean, look at your schedule ahead of time for the entire week and look for those small blocks of time that you can get even 15 to 25 minutes of activity and, you know, really have to make it a priority and say, "This is my time that I need to get a little bit of exercise in for my mental health, as well as my physical health." And I think if you set your mind to it and say, for example, "Okay, I'm going to get up at six in the morning. I'll have my clothes set out for me, my sneakers, and then go for a walk, 20 minutes. That's my time." And if you make it a priority, it usually happens.

Deborah Howell (Host): I agree a hundred percent. And as you said, it's so important for the mental health, as well as the physical. How can we avoid unrealistic expectations?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: The guidelines say that we really should try to get in 150 minutes a week of physical activity, whether it's walking or cycling or even just doing yard work counts. And I think not to beat ourselves up. There are going to be weeks that you're at home and you've just got a really hectic schedule with your kids' soccer schedules or your work schedule and just set some goals, look at the week ahead of time, but don't beat yourself up for some reason that particular week looks like a bad week and you're only going to get in maybe 20 minutes a couple of times that week.

I think what you'll find out is that once you really make it a priority and you enjoy doing it, that you'll actually feel bad if you don't, but don't beat yourself up and understand that there's going to be some weeks that you're not going to meet those goals and just understand that it'll get better the next week.

Deborah Howell (Host): I agree a hundred percent. Now, some people have found success by recruiting a family member or friend if they're having trouble staying motivated. Have you seen this work?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yeah. I know it's a great idea. I think the people who have the most success with staying active and making exercise like a priority usually have a family member, whether it's a son, daughter or husband, wife or just a neighborhood friend because we all know there are some days, it's hot or it's cold or it's raining or the reality is, "I just don't feel like working out today," and by having your friend or your spouse say, "No, no, no, no. We're not skipping out today. Let's go. Put on your shoes. We're going to go for a walk around the neighborhood." And I think it does help tremendously to have a family member or a friend that will help you stay motivated.

Deborah Howell (Host): Even if that family member is a dog or a cat, right?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Dogs love to go for walks and that's many.

Deborah Howell (Host): Which brings us to, you know, talking about a little bit more specifically the different types of at-home exercises you can do, and I'll let you take it from here.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yeah. it really depends on what you have at home. It's a variety of things, right? Some people have treadmills at home which ends up just being clothesline for some of us and hang our wet clothes on, right? Some people have home gyms, some people have a stationary bike and and other folks just don't have anything. And for those that don't have anything at all, just because of space or resources, if there are steps, going up and down steps is enough to get some exercise. It's not that exciting, but it definitely gives you some exercise. There's some things called wall slides where you can just lean up against the wall and with wearing a t-shirt or something, you can literally lower yourself down into like a squat position and slide down. And then you just hold that position for about 15 to 30 seconds. And if you ever tried it, your legs will feel that burning sensation pretty quickly, right?

Deborah Howell (Host): Great for skiing, right?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Oh, absolutely. Yes. And then you just push yourself back up when you start to fatigue. So that's a great exercise and then people sometimes can do pushups. And if you can't do a full pushup, then you can get on your knees and do some pushups on your knees, which are fine, and other core strengthening things like planks and bridges that you can look up online and Google what they are and see videos of some very simple core strengthening exercises that are easy to do at home, right? They don't take up a lot of space.

Deborah Howell (Host): I guess it's important to kind of just change it up every day, so you don't dread it.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yeah, that's it. That's exactly it. I found for me personally if I don't change it up a little bit after a week or two, I'll get bored. So yeah, and I think that's again where a friend or a family member can help spice it up a little bit and say, "I don't want to do those today. Let's do this for exercise at home instead. Let's just do some pushups and some jumping jacks or let's just do some in place squats or some lunges, or, you know what, just going to go up and down the stairs for 10 minutes is boring, but we can do it together."

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah, exactly. I've found pickleball to be very motivating because it's just so fun. So if you can find something fun, that's just going to really make you motivated for sure.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yes, absolutely. If it's not fun, you'll stop. You're right. And so variety and keeping it fun is really-- it's not supposed to be a chore. It's not supposed to be work. It's supposed to be fun. And it's supposedly meant to keep you physically and mentally sort of sharp and feeling good.

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah. And your own body weight can be your equipment, correct?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Oh, yes, absolutely. You don't really need any weights. I remember when I was doing my training out in Ohio, I went to a real extensive body workout with the head athletic trainer at the University of Toledo. And I've never been so sore afterwards, just from body weight exercises.

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah. Yeah. So you don't need the equipment. You just need enough room for your body and you can get a great workout. What other things are you talking about to patients and athletes? Are you very much into the preventive and stretching regimen?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: It really depends on how motivated they are. And we have a family medicine residency program here as well as a sports medicine fellowship. And we really promote the whole concept of exercise as medicine. And there are folks that really believe that when we say exercise, we mean the training for like a 5k for going for a 20-mile bike ride. And we try to tell people, "It's not that. We just want to get you moving" and that's where you really want to get moving and exercise, but just being active and I don't expect you to run a marathon, but please get up and move. And it's so important for your health for prevention. But it's also a good treatment for things like hypertension and diabetes. And we often forget how important that is for those diseases for prevention and for treatment.

Deborah Howell (Host): And for our joints as well. I mean, if you drop 30, 40 pounds, that's going to make a difference on your knees and your hips and your ankles.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Yes. Unfortunately, there's a perception out there, wives' tales like, for example, running causes arthritis in your knees and hips, you can't do that. And it's actually been found not to be true at all. What really is the number one thing that gets people to become arthritic as we get older, unfortunately, is exactly right, is carrying that extra weight. And there have been studies that have shown that even 10 pounds of weight loss will substantially decrease people's pain from arthritis. So you're right, carrying that extra weight is not in the long-term great for your joint and it's going to contribute to developing osteoarthritis. And anything you can do to keep the weight down or even lose 10 pounds will help with arthritic pain.

Deborah Howell (Host): Arthritic pain and self-image as well.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: Absolutely.

Deborah Howell (Host): Well, I have to tell you it's been a pleasure. Is there anything else you'd like to add to our conversation today?

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: No, I think that's it. I appreciate it. And again I think as we mentioned early on, I think getting to the point where you actually crave the exercise or being active or going for that walk with a friend or doing some things just around the neighborhood, you don't have to go to the gym. But once you get to that point, which will probably take most people about two to four weeks to get to the point where they miss that walk and they miss doing those exercises at home, I think that's when you're in a good place because your body will crave it. You'll say, "Geez, I really need to go for that walk. I know it's raining. I'm just going to put on a rain coat and go for a walk around the neighborhood."

Deborah Howell (Host): I hear you. And I agree with you a hundred percent. I'm not good to be around if I don't get my exercise in today. But, like you said, I'm not going to beat up on myself about that. It's been really enlightening and fun having you. Thanks for all the insight you've given us today, Dr. Brennan.

Dr. Fred H. Brennan Jr: You're very welcome. Thanks for having me. And yeah, good talking to you as well.

Deborah Howell (Host): That wraps up this episode of BayCare HealthChat. Head on over to our website at baycare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Always remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts, so we can share the wealth of information from our experts together. This is Deborah Howell. Have yourself a terrific day.