My question to you is “do you hate physical exercise?”
It might sound like something good to do, but do you find a million reasons why it just doesn’t work?
Maybe your intentions start out good, but midway through the day you realize that exercise is not going to happen. Maybe you know it is healthy, yet the thought of exercise is about as much fun as having a tooth pulled. Your life is too busy and the family is too demanding to give you any time to think about doing something like this.
Let’s reframe physical exercise into something that might be more palpable.
What if you replaced it with the word “physical activity?” Does that sound more possible to make happen in your day?
Incorporate Physical Exercise Into Your Life
Instead of thinking of it as ONLY going to the fitness center, what are some other ways you can get in physical activity? Maybe it is walking or taking the stairs up to your office building. Maybe it is doing something like Yoga to get the muscles moving.
How about gardening, dancing, or mall walking while shopping? You might even consider parking further out in the parking lot and giving yourself more time to walk.
Physical Exercise Not Only For Gyms
There are many ways we can get physical activity in, but for some reason we’re so caught up in this world that going to a fitness center or gym is the only way to do that. If you’re like me, I just don’t enjoy being packed in with strangers to workout and I sure don’t enjoy the locker rooms.
Plus half of the time I am lost at how to use the machines, and most fitness places don’t focus on teaching you. They only want you to sign up for expensive training sessions with far too many trainers that are either underqualified or distracted while working with you.
Take The Stairs
Maybe you think, well I could do some of these types of physical activity. Maybe I could take the stairs instead of the elevator. It would mean that if you go out for lunch or a break, you’re most likely going to be going up and down the stairs a total of four times. Maybe it isn’t a lot, but it is much more than if you do the elevator.
Parking Further Out
You might even be thinking “what if I just parked further out in the parking lot?” Not only will your car be less likely to get dinged up by other customers and by shopping carts, but you”ll get in some physical activity. It may not be doing a marathon every day but at least you are doing more than parking in one of the forbidden handicap spots to minimize how far you walk.
Walking
Maybe you think you could get more physical exercise in by walking. When I worked in office buildings, I’d take a short walk and then sit down and eat my lunch. It really helped clear my head and gave me some great physical exercise. Walking is so good for our mind body and helping to alieve pain in our muscles. Walking is so helpful to so much in our lives.
Now I hear everyone saying, “Well I understand how much physical exercise and physical activity are good for the mind body. However, we’ve got busy lives and there’s just no time for it.” Unfortunately, that thinking will get you more trips to see your doctor which of course consumes your free time. That thinking will get your closer to an earlier death, which of course robs you of your free time. So, maybe we can reframe it and realize our lives are important enough to make time for it.
Physical Activity Pyramid
You don’t have to run marathons. You don’t have to become the body builder champion of the world. All you need to do, according the Georgia State University Department of Kiniesiology and Health, is get in 20-60 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 to 5 days a week. In all reality, that is not that much.
If you look at the physical activity pyramid, you can get a better feel for what is healthy for us to do and what is not. We all spend too much time on a computer or on our phones. At the same time, we don’t do enough physical activity.
What if you start by coming up with something you can do that works for you. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or difficult. Keep it simple. Then, come up with times that work according to your schedule. Write down what you’re going to do and then for every day you stick to it, give yourself a gold star. It might help to have someone hold you accountable with physical exercise until you’ve mastered the habit of it.
Most of all, don’t wait until everyone talks about their New Year’s resolutions to start thinking about your health. Start today by finding something that works and then start doing it. It can be that simple.
Your mind and body will thank you so much. The health you experience will most likely improve. More than likely, your doctor won’t see you as much for critical situations because you’ll be doing something proactively to take care of yourself.
A little physical exercise does a body good!
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