Thank you for the responses to my Facebook poll regarding what is stopping you from working out consistently. So starting with the most common reason, lack of time. This is probably the most common reason (excuse?) people make for not working out. We too often think we need a certain chunk of time (say 30 to 60 minutes) to workout. Many people think they just have to get to a gym on top of that. For many of us, finding that time is tough when we’re working, commuting, taking care of kids, etc. Life gets in the way!
So what I would like you to keep in mind is this, something is better than nothing! Write that down. Ingrain it in your head! Rather than trying to find that single window to workout in, how about just 5 minutes? Can you spare 5 minutes when you wake up? How about another 5 mid-morning? Lunchtime? Mid-afternoon? Evening? It adds up and it will pay dividends!
This quote is from an article written by Dr. Dominique Gummelt which I posted about a year ago titled ‘When it Comes to Your Health, Something is Better Than Nothing’. In there she says that “Several “somethings” performed throughout the day will start to become “a lot” of things over time—and you may not even feel as though these things are taking much extra time. In fact, if you start integrating healthy behavioral patterns into your daily life, lack of time will likely cease to be an issue altogether”.
It all starts with planning.
You know the old saying, “fail to plan, plan to fail”. Whatever day you’re going to start, write down the time and what exactly you’re going to do. It may look something like this…
5:30 am – 100 jumping jacks, 30 squats, 30 bicycle crunches
10:15 am – 5 minutes doing stairs at work
12:30 pm – March in place 2 minutes, 30 lunges, 30 lying leg raises
3 pm – 5 minutes of stairs
8 pm – 30 squats, Two 30 second planks, 10 push-ups
Do something like that each day and it will start to become a habit. Before you know it, you’ll be pushing those 5-minute workouts to 10 or even making the time to get that longer workout in. With that should come many positives such as feeling better, having more energy, losing body fat, sleeping better.
Stay Healthy!
MZJ from MZJ Fitness
