NEWS

Note: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have the chance to learn a little more about our Louisiana Tech University Family: students, staff, alumni, faculty, and friends. We’ll call it Tech Top 5. Go to LATechSports.com for more Top 5s. #TogetherApart

Jean Chen

While the world is primarily concerned with reducing the spread of COVID-19, some of us have made “Netflix and chill” our official quarantine lifestyle and “self-care” has turned into baking and eating lots of banana bread. But not Jean Chen, who preaches that to keep your body healthy and fight disease, it’s important to stay fit. An associate professor in Kinesiology, Chen teaches students of all ages how to stay healthy. She shared with us her Top 5 ways to stay fit while social distancing:

1. Healthy eating habits: Use the “35921 Principle” — Eat only 3 meals a day, have a 5-hour gap between meals, no food after 9 pm, drink at least 2000 ml water (a bit more than half a gallon), and consume 1 apple a day.
2. Regular exercise: At least 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
3. Have a variety of indoor and outdoor exercises that are aligned with the aerobic capacity, muscular strength/endurance, and flexibility
4. Have an accountability partner: If you have someone you quarantine with, do the eating and exercise with her/him. If not, keep each other posted via phone calls, messages, and social media.
5. Keep a journal: Keep what you eat, what exercise you do, who you do these things with, and your weight in the journal; when the quarantine is over, it will be interesting to read a couple years later!