Making your body stronger and healthier will help you overcome being exposed to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. If you are not working our regularly, instituting a regular exercise program will increase your resistance to many illnesses. You will reduce your susceptibility to any disease process.
There are several aspects to a healthy daily workout. Stretching, strengthening, and cardiovascular fitness are the three main components for tuning and maintaining bodily health.
My recommendations for a minimal but effective program include the following:
- This is the calf stretch, or wall pushup. Actually, one foot should be forward with the other back. The front knee is bent. Both feet are flat on the floor without shoes. You should feel the stretch in your calf muscle. Hold each leg for 30 seconds.
- The next stretch is the spinal twist. Hold your left ankle with your left hand. Keeping your knees straight, look at the back side of your right hand while the palm of your right hand is pushing straight up towards the ceiling. Do not over-stretch. Initially, pull your muscles very gradually until you know what your body will tolerate. Hold this for 30 seconds, then reverse.
- Stomach crunches are partial sit-ups. Lie on the back with the knees bent and feet on the floor. Put your hands on your upper chest. Lift your head up and tuck your chin in to your chest. Holding this position, roll your shoulders up about 2 to 4 inches. The scapula never leaves the floor. Ideally, you should do this as many times as it takes to feel pain in your abdominal muscles. For the purposes of this workout, 20 to 30 repetitions should do it. Do these slowly over a 2-minute period. For the last third of the crunches lift your feet about 1 inch off the ground to work the lower abdominal muscles.
- Pushups are a decent upper body workout. Position yourself in the pushup position – either on your hands and balls of your feet, or the six-point position as you include having the knees on the ground also – and do as many pushups as you can in about 1 to 2 minutes. 30 would be nice. You may have to start with less and work your way up.
- Running in place is a good aerobic workout. Ideally, you should be on a cushioned surface. Thick carpeting would fit the bill. A thick foam exercise pad would also work. Another idea is to run on a trampoline, but this requires attention to balance and involves concern that injury from falling could be a problem. Do this for 4 to 5 minutes to round out the 10-minute workout.
Health and Spirit by Dr. Jack Zoldan 
