With many of us working longer hours than our predecessors and also having to juggle busy family life, it appears that many of us are not getting the government recommended 30 minutes of exercise five times a week. This is evident in not only our bulging waistlines but also in the rising tide of obesity-related illness. The biggest single excuse for not exercising is lack of time. But in actuality we can all make the time simply by planning our daily schedules. You can always guarantee that not matter how busy you are, there is someone out there busier than you who is exercising right now.
But the good news for those of us who are pushed for time is that we don’t actually need to exercise for long periods to derive the health benefits. In fact, in a recent scientific study, two groups of exercisers were examined. The first group exercised for just 10 minutes at a time whilst the second group worked out for around 40 minutes. Interestingly the first group not only worked out more often, they also lost more weight, stuck to their routine and exercised more consistently than the second group. So lets be honest, how many of us cannot fit just 10 minutes of exercise into our daily lives? The answer is, we all can and here are some simple strategies to fit exercise into your daily routine:-
Find Exercise That You Enjoy
We all enjoy different activities and the key to making time for exercise is in finding the exercise that interests you the most. That’s because we all make time for things we truly enjoy. Whether you like cycling, running, racket games or team sports. If you find something you love doing you are far more likely to do it and stick with it.
Getting Up 10 Minutes Early
Sounds simple, but setting your alarm just 10 minutes early will give you enough time to get in your daily dose of exercise, whether you want to cycle on your stationary bike, or workout to your favourite fitness dvd. Evidence has shown that most people find it easier to exercise when they have more energy in the morning rather than at the end of a busy day. A morning workout can help to wake you help and energise you for the rest of the day.
Add Activity To Your Daily Working Life
Try walking to work. This can be a great way of staying in shape and is very easy to do. You don’t even need to walk both ways, walk there and take the bus home. Or perhaps consider cycling to work instead. Many companies now have cycle schemes that help workers to invest in a proper bike whilst doing their bit to reduce their carbon-footprint.
If you spend lots of time sitting, then invest in a stepometer to count the number of steps you do daily. The recommended amount is 10,000 steps a day, but work up to this figure gradually, by getting active. Get up from your chair and walk to coffee machine, take the stairs instead of the lift or go for a brisk walk in your lunch break.
Do Exercise With Family and Friends
Why not add exercise to your friends and family time. Play fitness games on your console with the whole family, go for a cycle ride with the kids or a ramble into the countryside with friends. There are many ways that exercise can become social which gets everyone involved and can make exercise more fun. You probably won’t even realise your exercising!
Get The Weekly Chores Done Whilst Exercising
We all need to do household chores, from gardening to vacuuming the house. The good news is that all these activities burn calories and raise our heart rate – which means they count, even if they only take 5 minutes. Consider your chores as mini-workouts. Set yourself a certain number of household chores to complete each week such as mowing the lawn or weeding the flower beds. You’ll get the chores done and get a great workout at the same time.
The bottom line is that we can all find time to exercise but we need to find a reason and a motivation to exercise. Lack of time is really just an excuse – and not a very good one. The busy person who finds time to exercise every day does so because they have a reason and a motivation to want to workout. Chances are they are as busy, if not busier than you, but they still find time to do it.
We don’t need to spend a long time exercising, we only need start off with just ten minutes each day and we can all manage that. So start by setting yourself a goal, whether it be a specific weight loss or a fitness goal and then aim to achieve that goal. By setting your sights on something tangible and starting off in small, manageable chunks of just ten minutes, you will look at exercise differently and will gradually start to build a new healthy habit into your lifestyle – that you can really stick to.
Fitness Tips by MotivatePT – Mobile Personal Trainers in the UK
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