What is Work-A-Cise?

My colleague and friend at work, Dee, and I kept talking and whining how we never have the time for healthy habits. We know we need to exericise, make healthier food choices, get more rest, etc.

I started strength training at home three days per week for about 25 minutes after reading the book "You on a Diet" by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. I was not always consistent with it, but had some success anyway. I wanted to get back to strength training, as I was very familiar with the benefits, but I didn't want to go to a gym. It felt great to be doing something.

I showed the exercises with Dee and my parents. All three of them commented that they wanted to do them, but they could not get down on the floor to do many of the exercises.

I started thinking about how people who cannot workout on the floor could definitely have the beneftis of strength training too. As an Occupational Therapist, it is natural for me to think about making adaptations to overcome difficulties. I've adapted all kinds of exercises for hundreds of people over the nearly 20 years that I've been a therapist.

I told Dee I was working on these adaptations and we also discussed how challenging it is to squeeze in exercise around work and family obligations. We started thinking it would be great to be able to get the exercises done during the work day. We agreed to try it at work together. We believed our employer would be supportive as we are encouraged to seek fitness opportunities. Dee suggested getting started on July 1, 2013, about 10 days away. I built a set of exercises that could be done in five minutes three times per day or combined into one 15 minute session.

We started fantasizing about getting some kind of exercise flash mob going and Work-A-Cise was born. Now we have a few dedicated followers and a couple of people who drop in when they can.

It's not very difficult and we are seeing results already! See the tabs at the top of the page for the exercises-- one set for Monday-Wednesday-Friday and another for Tuesday-Thursday

All the Best,
Lisa