Exercise is supposed to help you sleep better and reduce stress, probably in the reverse order.  I would assume because one is less stressed, he would be able to sleep better.  My theory towards it is if I physically exhaust myself, I won't have any energy to be stressed, and I will be so physically tired, I will be forced to sleep well.

This works about ninety percent of the time.  The other ten percent of the time, I feel like I have been cheated.  Falling asleep is never a problem; it's the waking up at 2:00AM and not being able to fall back asleep that I take issue with.

Dr. Youngstedt from the University of California, San Diego, points out there is little scientific evidence that exercise effects sleep levels in good sleepers; however, in people that suffer from insomnia, there is evidence to suggest moderate aerobic activity might help people with insomnia.  Another recent study at the Federal University of Sao Paulo at Brazil suggests moderate aerobic exercise, as opposed to heavy aerobic exercise and strength training, increases total sleep time as well as reduces anxiety.  

The Mayo Clinic is quick to point out that any form of exercise helps with stress reduction, including tai chi and walking, primarily because exercise releases endorphins and, as Reese Witherspoon points out in Legally Blond, "endorphins make you happy.  Happy people don't kill their husbands."  I have often wondered what would happen if all of the world leaders who are currently fighting other countries took up a jogging program.  It might be the solution to world peace.

The point is, exercise has many psychological benefits as well as physical.  In fact, the psychological benefits may very well outweigh the physical at the end of the day.  And hopefully, it leads to a good night's sleep.

According to Colorado State University, approximately 9500 elderly Americans die as a result of falling.  Falling can result in hip fractures, sprained ankles, low back pain, and can cause psychological trauma among people age 70 and older.  Falling is the result of a variety of factors, some of which can be prevented, such as lack of physical activity.  While we don't have control over things such as environmental factors, often the fall that results because one trips over something on the floor would be prevented if the person had better balance and coordination.  This comes not only from strong muscles, but from practicing balance in a controlled setting.  

Balance is something young people take for granted.  Standing on one leg is easy, and we can do it with our eyes closed.  An interesting thing happens when you ask a 65 year old man to stand on one leg.  He looks at you like you are crazy, lifts up a leg, and starts to wobble.  The response is always the same: "I didn't think that would be hard at all."  Because it's not practiced in our adult lives, we assume it will be as easy as it was when we were 16.  Like everything, our ability to balance decreases as we get older unless we work on it.

That's the bad news.  The good news is balance improves quickly if one starts practicing it regularly.  When incorporated into a fitness regimen, people generally notice their balance improving within 2 weeks.   Some experts suggest that if you are looking to achieve optimal fitness, you should be able to stand on one leg with your eyes closed for at least one minute each side.  If you are able to do this, your chances of falling decrease.  Your brain will be able to right your body if you trip over something.  Working on balance is possibly one of the easiest and most important things a person can do, yet for some reason, it's often ignored.  Maybe because working on balance doesn't make your body shape change or burn extra calories, people put it on the back burner.  However, as corny as it might sound, working on balance might someday save your life. 

Winter is chewing on my slipper.  "Nooooooo," I say, as annoyingly as possible, hoping to elicit some sort of response.  He looks at me, drops the slipper, and walks slowly over to the water bottle by the couch.

Before I have a chance to respond, the water bottle is in his mouth and he is across the room.  "Drop it," I say in my most stern voice which, to be perfectly honest, isn't that stern.

He looks at me again, knowing full well he is faster than I am.   I get up, prepared for the inevitable.  He gets ready.  As I start to walk towards him, he sprints with the water bottle down the hall.

Winter is a 2 year old pomapoo.  He weighs 11.6 pounds, and is generally fairly well behaved.  However, when we (my husband and I) aren't good owners, he acts out by chewing things.  We learned early on if we wanted to save our flip-flops, he needed to get out regularly.  

This particular day, we had just gotten back from a weekend trip.  I mistakenly thought Winter would be as tired as we were, and decided not to do anything with him after work.  It wasn't working out very well.

The rest of the evening was spent chasing him down the hall with various items that didn't belong to him (Uggs, socks, underwear...).  Eventually, it was time for bed and he reluctantly stopped trying to get us to chase him.

The next day, he and I went for an hour run.  The look on his face as he loped along next to me was priceless.  I know dogs don't show emotion in their faces, but his mouth was open wide and his tongue was hanging out as though he was grinning from ear to ear.  Once we got back, he drank some water and curled up in a ball to take a nap.

We all need to get out of the house and get some fresh ear to keep us sane.  It's easy to forget, and even easier to ignore, but it improves attitude and reduces stress.  It might even keep us from destroying things.

I went to a birthday party for a 1 year old this weekend.  There were children of all ages there, ranging from 12 months to 12 years.  What struck me about the whole experience was the adults hovered by the food, interested in eating and drinking, while the children played with each other.  The playing consisted of running up and down the stairs, playing hide and go seek, and what appeared to be some game involving a ball.  They didn't stop moving.  The older girls were heavier, and would probably be considered overweight, but that didn't stop them from participating; quite the contrary.  They seemed to be instigating some of the chasing games.  

According to a recent article in the LA Times, 1 in 3 children is considered overweight.  The thing is, kids want to move.  So why are our children getting heavier and heavier?  Is it because of diet?  Or is it because of external sources, such as TV, game boys, and computers?  If we take these away, kids will amuse themselves in a much more traditional mode of play.  

Not only are children getting heavier.  I think we have all seen newspaper articles suggesting diseases related to obesity may soon be the number one killer of adults.  Recent data from the CDC suggests 30% of all adults are considered obese.  Obese is defined as 30 pounds or more overweight.  What are we going to do?

The obvious answer is we need to start moving more and eating less.  Unfortunately, moving more is associated with work.  While I was watching the children play this weekend, I couldn't help but ponder the fact that as a child, movement is synonymous with play.  As we become teenagers, this starts to shift and we see movement as work.  It loses it's allure, and it becomes easier to find things to do sitting down that occupy our time.  We need to change our perspective a little bit so once again movement is the equivalent of playing, it's something that is freeing and feels good.   Maybe then we would be more likely to WANT to do it.  I can't help but notice how many people will find every reason possible not to exercise, when it should be something we look forward to.  We should celebrate the fact we can move and our bodies are healthy.  We need to find modes of exercise we enjoy so we can start to get healthier as a nation.

Recently someone mentioned to me the exercise guidelines had been changed to 45 minutes of activity 5 days a week.  I was pleased, but surprised.  The last time I had noted any change in the guidelines set by the American College of Sports Medicine it had been a decrease from 60 minutes to 30 minutes of moderate physical activity 5 days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous activity 3 days a week.  I had been disappointed because I felt the guidelines were accounting for people's laziness rather than what was actually good for them.  While I firmly believe something is better than nothing, there is no debating the fact American's are getting less exercise than ever.  Our current lifestyle lends itself to sitting.  People will get in their car to drive 3 blocks to the store rather than walk.  Even dogs in America are experiencing an increase in obesity.  I would venture to say the dogs aren't prone to lying around all day; an overweight dog is the owner's fault.

But back to the guidelines.  I did some research, and unfortunately it appears the most recent guidelines adopted by the CDC and set by ACSM and AHA remain 30 minutes 5 days a week.  This is 3 10 minute walks a day.  For some reason, people have a hard time wrapping their heads around that.  I often hear "I don't have time."  I don't feel this is ever an accurate statement.  Everyone has 30 minutes during their day where they are watching TV, surfing the internet, reading the newspaper.  We aren't willing to tear ourselves away from current events and fictionalized reality long enough to take care of ourselves.  The kicker is most people will tell you how much better they feel after exercising.  It's getting themselves to do it that's the hard part.