What’s the reason you tell others, and probably yourself, that you never get around to exercising?
You just don’t have the time.
That was it, right? It’s what almost all of us tell ourselves. It’s the excuse I used for years. Who has time to go to the gym for an hour?
I have work to do. I have chores to get done. I have errands to run.
I have social media to binge on.
There just aren’t enough hours in the day to devote one to working out even though I absolutely want to be more healthy and fit.
I’ve bemoaned my appearance in the mirror with the best of them. I’ve scolded myself as the number on the scale creeps up, as my clothes don’t fit as well as they used to or stop fitting at all.
Diet is a big part of getting healthy. I don’t mean some fad diet. I mean actually eating healthy foods. Absolutely key.
But so is physical activity. And exercise requires a whole new addition to our routine that seems impossible to fit in.
But why?
What do you think of when you imagine exercising?
Probably you in a gym surrounded by people judging you, huffing for an hour of painful exertion before heading home to collapse on the couch.
Aside from the insecurities present in that mental picture, you probably imagined a significant investment of time all at once.
For it to be a proper workout, it’s got to be a big chunk of time, right?
Wrong.
You can get a decent workout in 10–20 minutes. It’s more in what you do than in how long you do it for.
It is so much easier to build in mini workouts throughout your way than to carve out a huge chunk.
Waiting for the elevator or microwave? Do some squats.
Sitting at your desk all day? Do some leg lifts right in your chair or get one of those under-desk cycling machines.
Every time you get up to use the restroom, do some lunges.
You’d be surprised at the number of micro workouts you can get in during the day without sweating yourself out or destroying your daily routines.
Even better is making the things you already do into workouts.
Park farther away from the store or your office so you walk more steps to get to the door. Take the stairs up as far as you can before switching over to the elevator.
Take a longer route to get to the bathroom or kitchen or lunchroom.
If you’re only getting a few things at the grocery store, use a carry basket instead of a push cart.
In comparison to huffing and sweating and being in pain, these smaller changes don’t seem like they would have much effect. But you’d be wrong.
Each small change adds up over time. You become more accustomed to physical activity in your day. You are able to do a few more reps and then a few more. You can walk a little farther, carry a little more.
Suddenly a longer workout may not seem like such an imposition on occasion.
Some of us are so busy that an hour-long muscle burning session is just not going to be in the cards no matter what, but that doesn’t mean you can’t exercise.
You can get more fit and healthy with the tiniest of changes.
You have the time to workout. You just have to decide that you want to and then reclaim those lost minutes and seconds to achieve your goals.
Every little bit helps. You can do it.
How do you sneak in exercise during your day?
