How actress Tanna Frederick fits exercise into a busy schedule
Keeping fit requires commitment. Just ask actress Tanna Frederick. She’ll finish one interview, hop on the elliptical for a brief workout and head to yet another interview and another workout. She makes sure she gets the workouts in, no matter how busy she is, and lately that’s very busy, including her recent role in Henry Jaglom’s upcoming romantic comedy, “The “M” Word,” and her responsibilities as founder of Project Save Our Surf. Fitness has always been an important part of her life – well, almost.
“I loathed sports when I was younger,” Frederick admits. “My parents ran marathons, were cross country skiers and fitness was seared into my brain. They made my brother and I participate in sports. I was slower than the other girls and would rather do theater performances.”
Things changed in college through the inspiration of her roommate, a physical education major.Now Frederick is an encouragement for the rest of us.
An important part of the equation is finding an exercise you like. “Success in starting and sticking to an exercise routine is rooted in finding some exercise that you like, or multiple activities that suit your needs,” says Cathy Barillo, lead physical therapist in Rehabilitation Services at Bartow Regional Medical Center.
When time is at a premium, even the time spent waiting in line at the grocery store or bank can be put to good use with exercises like squats, single leg stands, marching in place, leg kicks and weight shifting. While sitting in your car in a traffic jam, you can do neck and arm stretches.
Doing ten minutes of exercise raises your heart rate and reduces cardiovascular and other diseases, including diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis. “There are benefits to multiple short duration exercises,” Barillo continues, “but the key is always being committed to exercise.”
Benefits are enhanced when exercise is prolonged, however. Exercise helps to reduce stress and can help change your mood. Of course having more than one form of exercise you enjoy is preferred. “Especially with resistance training, it is good to switch up your routine, which will keep your body from becoming too familiar with a certain type of exercise,” Barillo points out.
And in Frederick’s family, fitness is the glue. “It gets us through everything and helps us to emotionally decompress,” says Frederick, who also enjoys running daily and in 2010 ranked 52nd out of 1,321 women in her division in the Los Angeles Marathon.
It’s easy to find an excuse not to exercise, but there is price. “There are pages and pages of studies and information relating to health that pinpoint one of the great risk factors for many diseases… [is] a sedentary lifestyle,” Barillo says. Active living is prescribed for all. She adds, “Exercising and staying fit are essential components to a healthy lifestyle that allows us to reduce risk factors from many severe disease processes that are occurring at increasing rates in the American population.”
CREDITS
story by CHERYL ROGERS and LISA IANNUCCI
