By Anai Gomez and Marli Bonney from the KIN330 Exercise and Health Promotion class taught by Dr. Sarah Camhi (Kinesiology Department)
Fall 2021
The NEW normal for physical activity in 2021
The year 2020 changed the lives of many both physically and mentally. We experienced one of the craziest viruses ever seen and were forced to stay home under a lockdown order for many months. Due to this lockdown order, many people became less active. Many gyms were forced to close and go out of business so even when the lockdown was over many people lost access to their gyms. As life is slowly getting back to normal here are some ideas to help you increase your physical activity once again.
Simple Ways to Add Minutes of Physical Activity into your Day
It may be difficult to juggle work, school, and other activities. Adding even 10 of physical activity may seem impossible. Try integrating more physically active habits throughout your everyday life, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking/biking to your destination instead of driving. These small changes can help improve your physical activity without taking too much time!
What is the BEST Physical Activity to do?
Some people love to run for miles and miles….and some people can’t stand it. The good thing is everyone can tailor their physical activity to what works best for them! Try new activities, or customizing your routines with something you find fun, such as listening to an audiobook, podcast, or going somewhere you find enjoyable. Do you have a competitive spirit? Join Go Dons Get Fit for some friendly competition! Log your physical activity and see where you rank against other staff and students. You can ride solo or join/create a team to help you all stay active!
Opportunities for physical activity at USF
The great thing about being a part of USF is that the University offers many amazing options to get fit. Here are a few ways both staff and students can access more options for physical activity. USF offers a gym membership to Koret for both students and faculty/staff. Koret offers amazing exercise classes and activities to participate in as well as intramural/club sports and access to personal trainers.
Here is a video made by our USF EIMOC Leadership Team highlighting ways to be active on campus! (the more “likes” we get for this video on YouTube, the more likely we are to win a national Exercise is Medicine on Campus competition to celebrate October as EIMOC month!).
Opportunities for physical activity beyond USF
USF students and faculty/staff also have the benefit of being within walking distance of Golden Gate Park and being able to take advantage of its amazing trails. USF students and faculty/staff also have the advantage of being in a city that has many programs that promote physical activity such as Healthy Parks, Healthy People which hold a walking group at no cost.
Opportunities to be active from your own home!
Don’t really feel like being around people? That’s okay! There are home and virtual based options to increase physical activity while feeling comfortable. There are many reputable sites that can give you ideas on how to stay fit at home. For example Koret offers different virtual fitness classes through zoom. Here are other recommended videos you can do at home to stay active.
Happy Exercise is Medicine on Campus Month! Don’t forget to “like” our video! You can also click on this QR code to get access to our video on YouTube!
References:
American Heart Association. (2018, January). How to get energy when you’re too tired to workout infographic. www.heart.org. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/staying-motivated/how-to-get-energy-when-youre-too-tired-to-workout.
Ejanda, C. T. (2021, September 27). Group exercise schedule. University of San Francisco. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.usfca.edu/koret/fitness/group-exercise/schedule.
Ejanda, C. T. (2021, July 3). Sports. University of San Francisco. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.usfca.edu/koret/sports.
Ejanda, C. T. (2021, August 23). Student activities. University of San Francisco. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.usfca.edu/koret/student-activities.
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. (2018, November 5). Lands end. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/lands-end.
Hoehn, T. (2020, September 24). Prevent boredom and injury during physical activity. Mayo Clinic Health System. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/prevent-boredom-and-injury-during-physical-activity.
Koret Health and Reaction Center. (2020, January 18). Group exercise. University of San Francisco. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.usfca.edu/koret/fitness/group-exercise.
Koret Health and Recreation Center. (2021, June 22). Personal training. University of San Francisco. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.usfca.edu/koret/fitness/personal-training.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks. (2021). Healthy Parks, Healthy People. Healthy Parks, Healthy People | San Francisco Recreation and Parks, CA. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://sfrecpark.org/1244/Healthy-Parks-Healthy-People.
University of San Francisco. (2021). Dons get fit. myUSF. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://myusf.usfca.edu/hps/outreach/dons-get-fit.
USDA. (2021). Exercise examples and videos. Exercise Examples and Videos | Nutrition.gov. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.nutrition.gov/topics/exercise-and-fitness/exercise-examples-and-videos
