A normal week of “getting enough” might look something like this:
| A Sample Week of Exercise | ||||||
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| Morning | Take the dog for a 10-minute walk | Hit the gym before work. Begin with a light cardio warm-up and then get in a strength training routine followed by somes stretching. | Take the dog on a 30-minute walk/jog. | It's back to the gym for another strenght training routine followed by stretching. Be sure to warm up and cool down with some light cardio. | Hit the gym for your favorite Zumba class to start the weekend off right. | Go for a long hike or bike ride and enjoy the rest of your weekend with more energy than you have ever felt. |
| Lunch | Take a 10-minute walk through the park | Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work and then walk to get lunch. | Run all the errands you need and make as many of them on foot as you can. | Park farther away from the door and take the stairs instead of the elevator. And if you have the time, go for a stroll through the park. | ||
| After Work | Take the dog for a 10-minute walk. Spend another 10 minutes working in your yard | Meet up with some friends for a game of tennis or take your kids to the park for a little basketball. | Enjoy a yoga video or class. | Take the dog for a 15-to-20-minute walk. | ||
Look like a lot? Well, it is. Think of how far we have come; from working in the fields and taking hours to prepare a meal of farm fresh ingredients to driving through McDonalds to pick up a dinner full of preservatives and fat on our way home to watch three hours of the latest reality TV show. Estimates state that we spend an average of anywhere between four and eight hours in front of a screen each day, and that doesn’t even include work hours. So if you sit in front of a computer all day at work, you can double or triple that number. Obviously it is going to take some moving to reverse those effects.
Best advice – start small. Make minor adjustments that you can stick with, like always taking the stairs at work. If you use a wheelchair, find other small alternatives like pushing during your lunch break. Making those small adjustments to start with will help pave the way to making bigger adjustments in the future.
I know you won’t believe me now, but those who exercise actually report having more energy throughout the day. So while you think all this exercise will cut into all the many things you have on your to-do list, you may find in reality you have more energy to check off the things on that list.
Regardless, isn’t our health worth the cost? Don’t we want to age well and spend less of our hard earned money on health care? Don’t we want to pass on healthy traits to the next generation so that our kids can outlive us? If that’s the case, than do whatever you can to get enough. Tack a reminder on your alarm clock, refrigerator, or wherever else works for you so that you can get enough!
Source:
*http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
