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>> Elizabeth Jackson: When you look at kids, they're playing.
They're not saying how God, I have to exercise.
When you look at adults, we're kind of shifted into thinking about it less
as a playful experience, and really activity is one of those things that, you know,
you can either do together or you can do by yourself.
But, you know, having fun doing it -- when people ask me --
when my patients ask me what kind of exercise is the best for my heart,
I say the one that you have fun with, because you're going to stick with it.
And we're lucky because there's a lot of things -- parks, you know, sidewalks, being outdoors,
indoors with equipment, there's a lot of resources around us,
and your health professional can help you find some of those resources too.
Sometimes I know I think oh exercise, people are going to say that's going to a gym,
and oh I don't have time, I don't want to do this.
But I'm really thinking about being active in many different forms.
What does the word exercise mean to you?
>> Theresa Gracik: Well surprisingly, I think it means more than just an exercise program.
It means movement.
And one of the problems in our society is sedentary lifestyle,
and one of the first things I recommend is increasing your daily activity.
That might be if you have a desk job getting up once an hour to move around, send and --
instead of sending an e-mail, it might be getting up
and crossing the hall and talking to your colleague.
If you're watching TV, it might be during a commercial getting up and moving around,
preferably not to the refrigerator.
It might be -- so -- and you hear people talk about park as far away as possible,
take the stairs, and we have said those things so many times that people are bored by them,
and they're saying I'm not doing that, I'm parking as close as I want.
But really, the consistency --
>> Elizabeth Jackson: They make a difference.
>> Theresa Gracik: -- daily activity makes a huge difference,
and that is even before an exercise program.
>> Elizabeth Jackson: Exactly.
Exactly. And so, you know, I raise my hand because as I'm doing my research
on physical activity, I'm actually at my desk typing, typing, typing all day.
So this happens to all people.
But we can't stress enough how just even parking a little farther, putting in that little bit
of walking throughout the day really makes a difference.
And if you don't believe us, there's been lots of research, including the nurse's health study,
showing that just brisk walking really reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
So 10 minutes in the morning, or 10 minutes at lunch, 10 minutes in the afternoon,
it's really something that everybody for the most part can do.
And if you can't do that, then there's other different types of exercise.
And we have several pieces of equipment here that people can use even if they're not able
to walk too far or too long, or at all.