Physical Activity and Exercise while temporarily working from home

IANR Vice Chancellor's Office Author

04/26/2020 Added

9 Plays

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Interview with Dr. Shinya Takahasi, Associate professor of practice and assistant department chair of Nutrition and Health Sciences. Challenges related to physical activity and exercise while wroking from home when one is not used to the work at home environment. Social distancing and the stay at home guidance have disrupted physical activity and exercise for many.

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[00:00:00.170]I'm Rich Bischoff,
[00:00:01.550]the associate vice chancellor
[00:00:03.150]for faculty and academic leader success
[00:00:05.800]in the institute of agricultural and natural resources.
[00:00:08.860]I'm talking today with Dr. Shinya Takahashi,
[00:00:11.970]associate professor of practice
[00:00:14.080]and assistant department chair
[00:00:15.770]in the department of nutrition and health sciences,
[00:00:18.480]in the college of education in human sciences.
[00:00:21.150]Shinya's professional expertise is in physical activity,
[00:00:24.290]physical wellness, and resistance training.
[00:00:26.790]I'm talking with him today about
[00:00:28.250]the challenges related to physical activity
[00:00:30.970]when working from home,
[00:00:32.240]when one is not used to the work home-work environment.
[00:00:34.848]The social distancing and stay-at-home guidance
[00:00:37.960]in response to the covid-19 pandemic
[00:00:40.490]of disruptive had disrupted habits
[00:00:42.750]related to physical activity and exercise for many,
[00:00:45.540]if not most of our faculty and staff members.
[00:00:48.190]While I'm sure that there are some
[00:00:49.690]who have found more time and opportunity
[00:00:52.200]for exercise and physical activity,
[00:00:54.290]me and most of the people that I talk to about
[00:00:57.340]this have decreased our physical activity
[00:01:00.270]since working from home.
[00:01:01.440]For example, I used to like going to the gym
[00:01:03.610]in the mornings before work to run and workout,
[00:01:06.480]but with the closures of gyms
[00:01:08.210]due to the covid-19 pandemic I found it hard
[00:01:11.220]to find a stay-at-home substitute
[00:01:13.100]for this regimen of physical activity
[00:01:14.950]that I've had for years.
[00:01:16.610]I don't think I'm alone in this.
[00:01:18.280]Maintaining habits of physical activity
[00:01:20.290]while temporarily working from home
[00:01:22.160]can even be hard on those who haven't relied on gyms
[00:01:24.990]or other public spaces for these purposes.
[00:01:27.370]Shinya, perhaps you can start us off
[00:01:29.320]with some observations that you may have
[00:01:31.500]about the challenges to physical activity
[00:01:33.900]related to unexpectedly and temporarily
[00:01:36.450]changing work location from labs and offices
[00:01:39.740]of the university to ones own home.
[00:01:41.680]Thank you, Rich,
[00:01:42.513]for having me today.
[00:01:44.501]Over the last month or so,
[00:01:47.217]since we have started working home remotely
[00:01:51.500]and teaching classes,
[00:01:53.250]And I have experienced that the difficult times
[00:01:56.070]to exercise at home.
[00:01:58.270]I was also a person
[00:02:00.990]who used to go to a gym on a regular basis,
[00:02:05.220]and all of a sudden the gym closed.
[00:02:07.910]It's really difficult for us to exercise
[00:02:10.830]on a regular basis at home or maybe outside.
[00:02:14.120]It's a really tough time.
[00:02:15.200]I noticed that my wife and I,
[00:02:17.060]we are trying to purchase some weights at home,
[00:02:20.600]or some equipment at home,
[00:02:21.840]and it's really difficult to find weights now.
[00:02:25.330]I went to local stores.
[00:02:26.950]This was probably three weeks ago or so.
[00:02:29.730]It's really difficult to find weights,
[00:02:31.820]dumbbells and barbell plates.
[00:02:33.580]It's really difficult.
[00:02:34.550]It's out everywhere,
[00:02:36.470]and if you go online
[00:02:38.110]and try to purchase the equipment or just the weights,
[00:02:42.017]they increase the price,
[00:02:43.840]and of course the supply and demand,
[00:02:46.110]they change the prices.
[00:02:48.280]So it's really difficult to find the weights,
[00:02:51.050]and even we looked at Craigslist
[00:02:54.273]to find out if people sell used equipment, to pick up,
[00:03:00.570]but even then it's really difficult.
[00:03:02.380]So I decided, this just is my story,
[00:03:05.530]but I decided to create a own weights.
[00:03:10.000]I went to the menoz
[00:03:11.210]and I purchased the PVC pipe,
[00:03:13.570]and I used the cement to create barbell weights,
[00:03:17.770]so that's what I did last, (chuckles) yeah,
[00:03:19.750]that's two weeks ago.
[00:03:22.200]We created some weights,
[00:03:23.490]and we've been using it.
[00:03:25.451]It's really difficult to find the weights,
[00:03:27.690]difficult to find equipment.
[00:03:29.160]It's a changing, the lifetime changing,
[00:03:31.920]kind of experience for most of us.
[00:03:34.650]Also I noticed that a lot of commercials,
[00:03:37.670]and if you go online,
[00:03:39.290]it's almost like a virtual gym,
[00:03:42.490]instructors in there,
[00:03:43.930]and instruct us how to do certain exercises.
[00:03:48.550]Those are really getting popular.
[00:03:50.667]You have seen the commercial
[00:03:53.040]saying that one month free
[00:03:55.440]for a certain exercise regime, and so on.
[00:03:59.380]These days, of course, you can download an app,
[00:04:01.780]so you can do some tracking
[00:04:04.150]for your physical activities as well.
[00:04:06.010]Those are the things I've noticed.
[00:04:09.510]Shinya, maybe you can help us understand
[00:04:11.350]why this is important.
[00:04:13.013]What is the role of physical activity
[00:04:15.090]and exercise to work productivity
[00:04:17.140]and overall well-being?
[00:04:18.460]Why is this important?
[00:04:19.310]When you think about
[00:04:21.040]physical fitness, it's a part of the well-being.
[00:04:24.820]When you think about there are a lot of different
[00:04:27.330]components in wellness.
[00:04:29.894]Physical fitness is one of them.
[00:04:32.400]Other things maybe related to
[00:04:34.550]occupational wellness, or maybe
[00:04:36.660]a spiritual wellness, or maybe
[00:04:38.610]intellectual wellness, and so on.
[00:04:40.310]So those are different types of wellness
[00:04:43.430]within a wellness concept,
[00:04:45.750]but those are interrogative to each other.
[00:04:49.280]If you don't have a physical wellness
[00:04:52.220]then your productivity might go down,
[00:04:54.840]because your stressed and you don't have anything
[00:04:58.130]to relieve that your stress on a regular basis.
[00:05:02.240]You experience this before,
[00:05:04.540]before you start exercise, sometimes it's really hard,
[00:05:08.220]but right after you exercise,
[00:05:10.670]you feel great, your energized.
[00:05:13.140]If your taking away from your exercise routine,
[00:05:17.500]that would affect the productivity,
[00:05:19.980]that's going to affect your spiritual,
[00:05:21.790]that's going to affect your intellectual,
[00:05:23.280]and that's what I'm understanding
[00:05:24.630]about a whole component of wellness.
[00:05:27.730]So your describing
[00:05:29.090]physical activity as being one piece
[00:05:31.060]of this complex health outcomes puzzle
[00:05:33.920]and wellness outcomes puzzle.
[00:05:36.070]The one thing that you didn't mention,
[00:05:37.810]but I would like to hear your thoughts
[00:05:40.880]about this is rest, including sleep and diet
[00:05:44.310]as being important parts of this puzzle.
[00:05:46.320]What do you have to say about
[00:05:47.530]those pieces to the puzzle?
[00:05:49.200]Yes, so again, the sleeping
[00:05:51.860]is very important and eating healthy
[00:05:54.180]is a really important piece of it.
[00:05:56.145]Without those, obviously,
[00:05:58.440]we can't function regularly or normally.
[00:06:01.702]Exercise helps actually, if you
[00:06:04.260]exercise, then, at night you can sleep better.
[00:06:08.090]If your thinking about doing exercise then
[00:06:11.313]obviously you can increase the old concept
[00:06:15.110]of healthy living, so that then you will try to eat
[00:06:19.550]healthy and so on.
[00:06:22.450]All of those components
[00:06:24.000]not just to exercise, I will say
[00:06:27.010]healthy living practice, and that's really important
[00:06:30.137]for us to be healthy, especially this type of
[00:06:33.352]unprecedented time of times we have
[00:06:36.550]here. It's really important to
[00:06:38.366]stay healthy and not just physically
[00:06:41.817]but also mentally and spiritually.
[00:06:44.180]Shinya, how long does it take
[00:06:47.930]for us to get out of the habit of physical exercise
[00:06:51.920]and then, how long does it take for
[00:06:53.360]us to establish a new habit?
[00:06:55.210]For me, it seems like it takes longer
[00:06:56.890]to establish a new habit than to get out of a habit.
[00:06:59.490]Yeah, it will take a while,
[00:07:01.820]and it's different from one individual
[00:07:04.620]to another, sure, but for those who
[00:07:08.525]have done this type of regimen, exercise regimen,
[00:07:12.130]for a long period of time, it might
[00:07:14.630]take up a few weeks to get back to the routine.
[00:07:18.130]As long as you provide yourself as a,
[00:07:20.866]some exercise vitamin at home,
[00:07:24.560]or maybe outside of the home too,
[00:07:26.430]because when you think about the
[00:07:28.150]cardiovascular exercises you can do it outside.
[00:07:30.940]You don't have to have a treadmill,
[00:07:32.260]you don't have to have an aerobics machine at home.
[00:07:36.080]You can do a lot of cardiovascular
[00:07:37.790]exercises outside of the home.
[00:07:39.990]As a matter of fact, you can do some of the exercises,
[00:07:43.580]cardiovascular exercises, at home too,
[00:07:45.730]because if you do some kind of sucky training
[00:07:49.960]type of exercises at home,
[00:07:52.015]I'm sure there are a lot of dvd's
[00:07:54.150]and YouTube videos available for us.
[00:07:57.410]You can do a lot of exercises at home
[00:08:00.410]for the logistics exercise portion
[00:08:02.950]of it may be a little bit challenging.
[00:08:05.040]You need to be creative because
[00:08:07.279]when you go to the gym and they
[00:08:09.640]have a lot of weights, but now
[00:08:11.280]you are at home and you have a limited
[00:08:13.580]amount of weights available for you.
[00:08:15.820]You need to think about it
[00:08:16.680]differently, how are you gonna do the exercises
[00:08:19.060]by using your body weight, maybe that exercise
[00:08:22.730]should be the priority.
[00:08:24.880]Just a piece of puzzle, like you said,
[00:08:27.200]not just the exercise, sleeping well,
[00:08:29.900]and a diet, a healthy diet, and so on.
[00:08:33.110]It's very important for us to prioritize
[00:08:35.824]exercise, it's really important for our lives.
[00:08:39.355]And a second thing, is that I will say is,
[00:08:42.530]it's really difficult especially when
[00:08:44.240]you have younger kids at home,
[00:08:46.130]it's really difficult.
[00:08:47.360]I can do exercise
[00:08:48.400]maybe after kids done their homework
[00:08:51.220]and some assignments, but if you don't schedule
[00:08:55.040]on a daily basis for your exercise, it's very
[00:08:59.210]difficult to do exercise at home.
[00:09:03.170]I think you need to prioritize
[00:09:05.840]and also you need to schedule,
[00:09:07.830]putting it into your daily or weekly schedule.
[00:09:11.970]As a matter of fact, kids can participate
[00:09:13.950]in exercises as well with you.
[00:09:16.480]That's something you need to think about
[00:09:18.926]so that we can successfully exercise at home, with kids.
[00:09:24.180]So let me tell you, Shinya, working
[00:09:27.510]from home, for me, my workspace is literally
[00:09:31.450]just a few steps from where I sleep,
[00:09:33.420]and a few more from where I eat.
[00:09:35.850]When I worked in my office at the university,
[00:09:37.840]in addition to exercising, I at least had to
[00:09:41.210]walk from the parking lot to my
[00:09:43.140]office, from my office to meetings and events,
[00:09:45.690]those sorts of things so I at least
[00:09:47.070]got some steps in during the day.
[00:09:49.090]But I don't have to do that now,
[00:09:50.860]I'm wondering if you can help me out
[00:09:52.270]and others who are like me.
[00:09:53.970]What suggestions do you have for someone
[00:09:56.260]like me who's relied on just the normal
[00:09:58.910]patterns of getting up and moving
[00:10:00.900]associated with working from the university,
[00:10:03.410]when I don't have to do that now?
[00:10:05.610]The one thing, of course,
[00:10:06.690]you can do is at home when you
[00:10:08.920]work at home, maybe you can create
[00:10:11.250]your office as, not sitting on the chair
[00:10:14.200]all the time, maybe standing.
[00:10:16.077]Maybe raise your desk somehow
[00:10:19.870]so that that means that you're standing.
[00:10:21.770]And again, you have to prioritize
[00:10:24.540]how you live your life in this difficult time.
[00:10:28.030]Maybe you can schedule, once again,
[00:10:30.274]you need to schedule your exercise time
[00:10:32.950]after you work so many hours.
[00:10:35.170]Maybe you take a break and you go outside
[00:10:37.490]and walk around the block.
[00:10:38.960]That's something you have to constantly
[00:10:41.090]think about, until you get used to
[00:10:44.180]the new environment, and that will take a while.
[00:10:46.837]That's my suggestion.
[00:10:48.919]So I know for many people,
[00:10:50.913]not me so much but I know for many,
[00:10:53.850]physical exercise is a social activity.
[00:10:56.550]They often meet up with friends to go
[00:10:58.410]for a walk, run, bike ride, get used to seeing
[00:11:02.300]the same people at the gym, develop
[00:11:04.470]relationships, friendships with people that
[00:11:06.818]go at the same time they do.
[00:11:09.186]This often fulfills a social need
[00:11:11.590]as well as helps motivate them
[00:11:13.220]to be physically active because they know
[00:11:15.120]that other people are relying on them.
[00:11:17.600]What's suggestions do you have for these
[00:11:19.533]individuals who, due to the restrictions
[00:11:22.180]related to the covid-19 pandemic, aren't able to
[00:11:25.010]get that need for connection met
[00:11:27.150]through the routines related to physical activity?
[00:11:30.430]Now technology is available for us.
[00:11:32.870]You can use your phone, you can use the computer,
[00:11:35.874]you can use zoom, maybe you can connect it to
[00:11:39.390]a zoom meeting and then do exercise together.
[00:11:43.070]Maybe tune in to a specific exercise routine
[00:11:47.480]available online, maybe a YouTube or something.
[00:11:50.230]And then exercise together, so that you can create
[00:11:53.850]some social support from your friends to
[00:11:57.040]your family members.
[00:11:58.830]As a matter of fact, this is an opportunity for
[00:12:01.090]us to connect, reconnect, people out there.
[00:12:05.410]Maybe your cousin, or maybe you family members
[00:12:08.781]you don't talk to as much.
[00:12:11.650]This is a great opportunity to connect with them
[00:12:14.840]via zoom or via some virtual online type of connection
[00:12:19.630]so that we can build that relationship even better,
[00:12:22.430]and doing exercise, right. That's something
[00:12:25.550]we can do just to take that opportunity and to
[00:12:30.242]build up a more relationship with them.
[00:12:32.490]That's my suggestion.
[00:12:33.900]Sure, I think that's a great suggestion.
[00:12:35.760]As you were talking I was also thinking about
[00:12:37.790]some of these physical activity trackers.
[00:12:40.657]We even have mechanisms for having competitions
[00:12:44.660]or being able to see one another's physical
[00:12:47.410]activity. Then talking to Dave with Shinya Takahashi,
[00:12:52.070]Shinya, thank you so very much for talking to us
[00:12:56.270]about the importance of exercise and physical activity
[00:12:59.990]during this time when we find ourselves
[00:13:02.280]temporarily, unexpectedly working from home.
[00:13:05.392]Thank you very much Shinya.
[00:13:07.020]Thank you for inviting me.

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