Safe at Home

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The governor of Texas, where I live, has relaxed some stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions in order to get the economy going again. Other states are also loosening restrictions. Nevertheless, the risk and danger of getting COVID-19 still remains and it makes sense to continue to stay at home as much as possible, especially if you have a chronic condition or are age 60 or older. We have been doing this for more than 2 months now, so we probably feel like old hands at it. We may also be getting tired of it and are perhaps less diligent than we were at the beginning. So here are some reminders.

Hand washing is still the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves from the Coronavirus. Wash your hands for 20 seconds, or about as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice. Click on this link to see a video of the WHO technique for washing hands. Wash your hands before you start to cook. Wash your hands again if you touch raw meat or eggs while preparing your meal and if you get raw batter on your hands. If you forget to wash your hands and open the refrigerator or oven, the bacteria transfers to the refrigerator or oven handle. Wash your hands after you finish cooking and before you eat.

Sponges

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Three Homemade Cleaning Wipes Recipes | Home. Made. Interest.

Sponges can harbor bacteria. Microwaving, boiling and putting the sponges in the dishwasher does not kill the bacteria. Plan to use a new sponge every week. I prefer to use a dish rag that I toss into the hamper at the end of the day, and get a fresh one out in the morning. Cutting boards and the sink both harbor bacteria and should be scrubbed with a cleaning product containing bleach. You can make your own by mixing a tablespoon of bleach in a gallon of water. Wipe down your countertops and the faucet handles with the same solution at least once a day. If you use a spray cleaner, spray thoroughly and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping. Don’t add bleach to a store-bought cleaning product; mixing bleach with a citrus product can be harmful to you and your pets. Disinfectant wipes are another option, but Chlorox or Lysol wipes have not been available for months. To make your own wipes, cut a roll of good quality paper towels in half crosswise with an electric knife. Put the half roll in a round container with a lid. Mix 1 cup of boiling water and 3 tablespoons of bleach. Pour over the towels. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Remove the cardboard from the center. The wipes can be used to sanitize not only your counters, but light switches, door knobs, faucet handles, toilet handles, stove knobs, washing machine and dryer knobs, and any other high touch surface. Do not use it on touch screens or cellphones though. The alcohol wipes used to clean glasses are safer for these items.

Other times to wash your hands are after bringing groceries into the house, after bringing the newspaper or mail into the house, after handling pets, after feeding the birds, and of course after coughing or sneezing. My favorite soft soap has disappeared from the shelves, including the online shelves. Hopefully I can find a substitute but I may have to use bar soap instead. After all that hand washing, your hands are sure to become dry and irritated, so don’t forget to use hand cream.

I recently learned that when you flush the toilet with the lid up, bacteria sprays 6 feet out. It can land on your toothbrush and towels. Yeah, that’s gross! So always flush the toilet with the lid closed! Even if you protect your towels from toilet spray, damp towels can harbor bacteria, so change the towels every three or four days. Be sure to wash them in hot water and make sure they get thoroughly dry in the dryer.

As long as we’re talking safety, check your home to make sure there are no tripping hazards that might cause a fall that sends you to the emergency room. Sheltering in place provides spare time to declutter your house. Make sure you have plenty of space to walk around. Wear good supportive shoes at home; slippers and flip flops may increase your risk for falls. Rugs should have anti-slipping pads. Electric cords should not lay across any walkways. Check to make sure the cords are not frayed, which is a fire hazard. Use handrails for all staircases. Put items that you use frequently in the kitchen within easy reach, not on a high shelf. Turn on a light if you have to get up during the night so you can see where you are going. Have your air conditioner serviced; seniors are at higher risk of adverse effects due to high temperatures.

We’ve heard it many times before: We are all in this together. So take precautions to safely make it through this pandemic.

Chris Alexander

Coronavirus / Safety   /

Shelter in Place

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COVID-19 still has most of us homebound these days with no definite end in sight. With my water exercise classes cancelled, I need projects to keep me busy. I’ve done the spring cleaning, hand washed my heavy sweaters and weeded my garden, so now what?

One project has been creating exercise videos and learning how to post them on YouTube (with the help of Jim, my husband). I did one exercise routine using for equipment items that we all have around the house (canned goods and a chair) https://youtu.be/xtGvywsYY4g.

I did a second video using exercise bands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwXrroDRaOc&feature=youtu.be

And now I have a third video with stretches. Our muscles are organized in pairs, and in order to stretch one muscle we have to contract the opposing muscle. Therefore a stretching program improves not only flexibility, but also strength. Besides that, stretching feels really good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oebXv3aByiI&t=33s.

Others are also making workout videos. Some of the best I’ve seen are from Rotha Crump at https://www.yourtimeandyourway.com/videos. She’s got five Balanced Bodies routines, plus aerobics, strength training and Yoga. Wave Makers have a number of videos including Balance Training Exercises for Fall Prevention, a Daily Core Strength Routine, Yoga for Core and Hips, and the Best Warmup Exercises to Do before a Walk. Walking is of course one of the best ways to exercise, and Jim and I are doing lots of walking around the neighborhood, crossing the street when necessary to maintain social distancing. Once we saw a woman on a bicycle with a cockatiel on her shoulder!

Of course we all need some entertainment to take our minds off the news once in awhile. If you like country music, check out WUSJ 96.3 FM in Jackson, Mississippi on Tune In radio, where my son “Fisher” is on the air from 3:00-7:00 PM Monday-Friday. Deejays have to acknowledge the difficulties our country is facing during the pandemic, share some personal experiences to let his audience know that he is in this with them, and still keep it light. Fisher does a good job of walking that fine line.

If you are into birds, the BBC series “The Life of Birds,” available on Amazon Prime, covers the history of birds, flight, migration, feeding and mating habits, bird calls and more. And the photography is so amazing, you’ll be left wondering how in the world they got those shots! This is spring and if you ever wished you could secretly watch birds raising chicks in their nests, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has bird cams that let you do just that. You get a close of view of several nests as well as bird activity at feeders on one of their web pages. Click on Bird Cams to view.

No one knows how long we will have to remain homebound, but I hope you will find projects to keep you busy, ways to continue exercising, and entertainment to make you smile. I’m looking forward to when we can get back in the pool!

Chris Alexander
Coronavirus / Fitness / Flexibility / Rubberized equipment / Strength training

Home Workout

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COVID-19 has most of us homebound these days with no definite end in sight. What are you doing to fill your time? There is probably a lot of Netflix movie and TV binge watching going on. But it is important to stay active as well. Here are some ideas to get you moving:

(1) Spring cleaning is probably not on the top of anyone’s list, but it is spring and house work is exercise. It is recommended that you regularly clean door knobs, light switches, faucet handles, toilet handles and seats, computer keyboards and cellphones, all of which you touch frequently. For the cellphones, use a wipe for cleaning glasses. Get more ambitious and clean the refrigerator, wash the curtains and deep clean the bathrooms. Since my grandchildren are not coming over during this time, I took the opportunity to wash all the toys in their toybox and replace all the batteries. Cleaning supplies can be hard to find. You can order safe, bio-degradable cleaning supplies online from Branch Basics at https://branchbasics.com/shop/

(2) If you enjoy gardening, that is another great way to get some exercise. You can create a container garden for your patio or work in your backyard garden. There has been a lot of rain in Plano, Texas which is good for the flowers; my verbena and bluebonnets are especially beautiful. The rain has been good for the weeds too, so weeding is one of my projects. If you want to plant something, Calloway’s allows you to make phone orders for curbside pickup.

(3) Walking is the perfect exercise for everyone and the spring weather has made walking around the neighborhood especially enticing. Explore those side streets that you usually just drive past in your car. Remember to maintain social distancing, since many of your neighbors have the same idea.

(4) You can do a strength training workout in your living room. I’ve got two home workout videos on YouTube that you can check out for ideas. The first video uses household items that you already have for equipment. Go to https://youtu.be/xtGvywsYY4g to view it. The second video uses bands. Go to https://youtu.be/DwXrroDRaOc to view that one. Other Plano instructors have also created videos. You can find them on the Plano Parks & Recreation Facebook page.

The pools may be closed but we still have to keep moving. Stay safe!

Chris Alexander

benefits of exercise / Coronavirus / Health information / Strength training

Protect Yourself from the Coronavirus

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The Coronavirus is spreading across the globe and there is a growing fear of the disease showing up in our backyard. The Arthritis Foundation included some common sense information about how to protect yourself in their most recent newsletter:

Wash your hands. We can’t stress this enough. Wet your hands with clean, running water, then lather them with soap. Scrub both sides, between your fingers and under your nails for at least 20 seconds – about as long as it takes to sing the alphabet song (or Happy Birthday) twice. Be thorough and follow the WHO technique.

Use hand sanitizers on the go. Don’t rely on them, but when soap and water aren’t an option, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Keep a bottle in the car, at your desk and in your purse or pocket.

Disinfect surfaces regularly. Clean high-touch surfaces like countertops, light switches, doorknobs and the inside of your car with disinfectant. Use a mixture of 60% isopropyl alcohol and 40% water to kill germs on high-touch objects and surfaces like your cell phone, computer keyboard, remote, doorknobs and faucets. Wash eyeglasses with soap and warm water every day.

Cover your mouth and nose when you cough. Throw away all your used tissues immediately.

Practice your fist bump. Try to forgo handshakes and hugs for the time being.

Skip the mask. Standard surgical face masks won’t screen out viruses in healthy people, but if you’re sick, a mask can help block droplets from sneezing or coughing so you won’t infect others. The U.S. Surgeon General has asked healthy people not to stock up on masks because the priority is that health care providers have them and they may experience a shortage if the general public buys them.

Call ahead. If you have cold or flu symptoms call your doctor instead of rushing to urgent care or the emergency room. If you don’t have a doctor and are sick enough to need emergency care, call ahead and let the hospital know you’re on the way.

Keep up to date with reliable sources. Follow major news outlets and health authorities such as the CDC, WHO, and the New York Times.

Follow this sound advice and you will go a long way towards minimizing your risk.

Stay healthy!

Chris Alexander

Coronavirus / Health information

Maintain Your Flexibility

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Some of my water fitness class participants enjoy stretching at the end of class and a few leave the pool before we get to the stretches. Are they missing anything important?

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends incorporating stretching exercises into your workouts 2-3 days a week but notes that daily stretching is most effective. They recommend that stretches be held for 10-30 seconds. Stretches that are held for 10-30 seconds are called static stretches. Stretching can also be dynamic. This means that you move a joint slowly through its full range of motion.

Stretching is a way to improve flexibility. Loss of flexibility results in a slower walking speed, smaller steps while walking, back pain and increased risk of falls. Improving flexibility reduces your risk of getting injured during physical activity. Muscles that are less tense are likely to have fewer aches and pains. You are less likely to have muscle cramps. Increasing your range of motion helps with balance. Flexibility and strength are two sides of the same coin. Stretching lengthens the muscles while strength training contracts the muscles. Performing both types of exercises makes you more physically fit.

There is a type of dynamic flexibility training that involves both stretching and contracting the muscle group being targeted. It is called Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation or PNF for short. In PNF an arm or a leg moves in a diagonal pattern. In the first illustration above, the right arm starts at the upper left front corner (left shoulder) and moves to the lower right rear corner. In the second illustration, the right leg starts at the upper left front corner and moves to the lower right rear corner. The opposite motion from the lower left front corner to the upper right rear corner is also performed. PNF stretching improves range of motion and muscular strength at the same time.

Ai Chi is another form of dynamic stretching. It was developed in Japan in 1993 by Jun Konno and introduced to the United States by Ruth Sova. Typically performed in shoulder depth water, Ai Chi moves arms and legs through a full range of motion while focusing on breathing patterns. You can find a video of Jun Konno performing Ai Chi on YouTube. A number of variations of Ai Chi have been developed. I find Ai Chi wonderfully relaxing and created a variation to use with my deep water classes. Ruth Sova is compiling the variations, including mine for deep water, which she will publish later in 2020.

Static stretching, dynamic stretching, PNF and Ai Chi can all be performed in a water fitness class to meet the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendations on flexibility exercises. If you would like some ideas for stretches for various muscle groups to get you started, see pages 18-19 for shallow water and pages 175-176 for deep water in my book Water Fitness Progressions.

See you in the pool!

Chris Alexander

Ai Chi / benefits of exercise / deep water / Flexibility / PNF / shallow water