Category Archives: Exercise

You know you should exercise. You want to exercise. You have a gym membership. You have cute workout clothes. But…You haven’t slept well, so you need to get that extra half hour of sleep in the morning, so your workout doesn’t happen in the morning…You plan to work out later that day but then traffic was bad/work was brutal and you are exhausted/you still have work to do at home/you are tired/your kids need your help with homework/you have a million errands you want to do/you are hungry and have to cook dinner/you just blow it off…You will catch up tomorrow…

Does this sound familiar? Here are 3 steps to improving the odds that daily exercise will become a routine.

1. Link one part of your exercise prep to something you do every day. For example, you always brush your teeth every day (I hope so). You always wear a sports bra to exercise or you always wear a certain pair of shoes when you exercise. Then link the two activities. Put on your sports bra or shoes when you brush your teeth. Do that every day. You don’t have to work out if you don’t want to, but just link the 2 activities together.
2. Have a variety of methods of achieving your goal of daily exercise. Have them different enough that they fit different scenarios. For example, if you are tired or have not time, you need an effective workout you can do at home – try body weight high intensity interval training (HIIT) where you don’t even need any equipment and you can complete the workout in under 5 minutes. If it is a lovely day out and you want to spend time with a friend or loved one, have a walking route that allows you to enjoy each other’s company while walking. Take a bike ride. Dance to music. You can use an app like 8Fit or Sworkit. If you want to take a class, you can go to an exercise class or follow an exercise YouTube or DVD or app. You can always go to the gym if you have time and want to get a complete workout with weights or cardio equipment or take a class or with the help of a personal trainer.
3. Log what you do and keep track of your progress. My bullet journal is where I write out the plan for my workout 2 weeks in advance. Then, as I complete my workouts, I jot down notes about my day and always end with a positive note to myself, “Feeling great! Went up on the number of crunches! Yeah!” I use my apple watch to monitor my overall activity and aim to close my activity rings every day. Then, I see how many days in a row I can complete all of my rings and I check it out on my phone. This is tremendously motivating since I love the 3 colors of the rings. 

Basically, you want to lower barriers and make it easy to get started on any single day. Have various options on how you can achieve your goal to work out daily. Track it and celebrate each day’s success. Aim to do something physical every day and it will become a habit much faster. Then watch. Other areas of your life improve too. Sleep gets better, mood improves, eating improves, confidence improves, work improves…you get it. With the inevitable ripple effect of daily workouts, you may find that the rest of your life starts to fall into place and you become more and more successful in more and more areas of your life. Try it.

Recently, after presenting at Grand Rounds about exercise, it became clear that there are many physicians who appreciate the value of exercise and recommend it to their patients. It is impressive- the number of very busy physicians who are fitting exercise into their own lives, on a daily basis. We see what many people don’t see, the variety of ways we can get older and the consequences of our lifestyle choices. It is with this wisdom that they are living what they preach- “Exercise- however you can fit it in.” Physicians who regularly see patients aging, prioritize exercise.

Exercise and physical fitness is one thing that has the greatest impact on all areas of health and cannot be replaced by pills or medical procedures. Yet, according to CDC, only 20 % of adults get “enough” aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise. This amounts to 150 total minutes of moderate intensity activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) divided throughout the week plus 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening activities per week.

Many people state that they have no time (such as “small children and childcare concerns” or “long work day” or “care-taking/traveling sports duties” or “homework”) and/or that they have a “very sedentary job.” They sit for much of the day and it’s hard to find the chunk of time to prepare for exercise (clothing, determine appropriate and effective exercise plan for the day), work out, and then deal with the sweat (shower, change clothes, makeup/hair), never mind the time to get to and from the gym if that’s the exercise zone. It is easy to get discouraged.

However, the great news is that 15 minutes a day of walking UNIVERSALLY improved health in a study of over 400,000 male and female adults of all ages despite other lifestyle choices. The study demonstrated that a minimum of 15 minutes of walking a day, decreased all cause deaths by 14% and extended lifespan by 3 years compared to people who were sedentary. Every additional 15 minutes daily decreased death from any cause another 4% and from cancer another 1%. In fact, the researchers noted that 1 in 9 cancer deaths may be avoided with that 15 minute walk. Maybe 15 minutes of walking daily is possible for an added 3 years of life or a chance to avoid a death from cancer.

And about that sedentary job, many people would choose to be more active at their otherwise sedentary job if given a choice. Sometimes, we might not recognize some of the options. See if you can get up from your chair at regular intervals or consider moving the printer or trash farther from your desk so you have to get up for access. Take the long way to the restroom or the stairs. Many people appreciate the reminders and step tracking from various fitness trackers.

What helps me? It is the stand up desk that I am a fan of. My stand up desk keeps me moving more throughout the day. Treadmill desks (cons: higher risk of serious injury and difficult to use a keyboard or write due to the movement) and cycling desks (cons: non-weight-bearing) are also available but are more expensive, take up more space and often go unused. It is the stand up desk that I am a fan of. And when colleagues see my at my stand up desk, they often end up getting one and using it too.

Find ways to incorporate that 15 minute walk every day. See if you can set up your sedentary job to be less sedentary. Please share your methods of increasing your physical fitness even when you have a sedentary job.

Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash

Today’s physical activity note:
Master the Common Fall Excuses

Enjoy now and prepare for what’s to come. In the Midwest, fall marks the changing weather and beautiful sounds and colors around us. Leaves are changing colors, sunsets and sunrises are beautiful, the crinkly leaves on the ground and rattling in the trees are lovely. Kids are in school so there are quieter times of the day in the neighborhood…depending on where you live.

However, with these changes, comes some more frantic moments – before and after school- coordinating with others regarding schedules, homework, work, feeding the family, extracurricular activities, social activities, etc. running the household- whether you are alone or with others, is busy. And when the days get shorter and it gets cooler out, our body’s natural responses may mean we start to decrease our vigilance and focus in taking care of ourselves. Waking up gets harder, getting out of the warm bed and into the cold air is a challenge, the weather outside starts to seem too uncomfortable to go out there. On top of it, if you are also needing to worry about getting the kids up and ready for school, that takes up precious time so it’s easy to run out of time in the morning to squeeze in some physical activity. By evening, you are tired and hungry, have to drive everyone to their activities, cook, run errands, go through the mail, help with homework and “projects,” maybe even do some of your own work, etc. etc.

This “Fall transition” often manifests first, in skipping workouts or cutting out or cutting down on our physical activity. Where to squeeze it in?!

First: Plan ahead and be prepared. You know what interfered with your health plans in the past. “I am tired and have so much going on, there isn’t enough time” and “I need more sleep” and “it’s too cold” are common excuses of why those workouts fizzled out.

Master Fatigue
If you keep active through the changes of seasons and cold weather, your metabolism will continue to rev at a higher burn rate through winter (instead of the usual “metabolic slow down”) and especially during those times you may eat foods you wouldn’t normally eat (hello holidays). Also, if you remain active, you will feel less fatigued in general.

Remember, you need less time in bed and you get better sleep the more fit you are. In other words, you add time to your day when you are fit! So if you are tired of being tired, getting fit and staying fit, will help with that! Organize your sleep around your workouts! If you wake up early and are still sleepy, nap later, go to sleep earlier, deal with any sleep debts at times other than your physical activity time. Keep your physical activity a top priority.

If you are tired at the end of the day or after work when you normally workout, do your physical activity and THEN rest. The physical activity can be abbreviated or an alternative less intense activity- it still counts! You may find that once you start exercising and get in the habit of exercising, you develop MORE energy and are no longer too tired to do other things! Again, regular physical activity gives you MORE effective awake time in your day!

Master the Cold
About the cold, if you workout outside and you live in a climate with brutal winters, have alternative workouts for those days you can’t workout per your planned routine. Of course, if you are able and want to keep working out outside, you can find appropriate winter sports or go to an outdoor recreation store and get the appropriate cold weather gear so you can continue to be physically active outside.

When you have the right gear, it’s so much more fun and motivating! My personal cold weather outerwear is from the NorthFace. Initially, the cost prohibited me from trying it but after spending way more in multiple different jackets that each had limitations, and therefore limited
my options, I invested in a NorthFace jacket. I can wear my jacket indoors or outdoors and my body temp feels the same and unaffected by the temperature. No overheating or freezing and it is lightweight and easy to move in. Some days, I wear it all day long- inside and out. It has revolutionized my options for winter activities.

Here are some additional thoughts and tips. See also the earlier blog about how to manage excuses.

1. Pick a shorter workout to do in the morning, that you will do. Maybe you will workout at home and do a DVD workout program or use one from YouTube which is only 15 minutes? Or try high intensity interval training so that you get more out of your workout in less time?

2. Remember it is cold when you get out of bed whether it is to get ready for work or the kids or if you are going to treat yourself to some personal time to move and enjoy the quiet of the morning before others wake up. Use this early morning time for yourself first. Keep your workout gear, clothes nearby so you just start before you are fully awake. Have some warm cushy outer covering to put on over your usual workout clothes (or PJ’s) so you are warm as you get up to start moving. Get into those workout clothes, ie. sports bra. Just getting into my workout clothes – mainly my sports bra, makes it 99% more likely I will exercise.

If you can set your thermostat on a cycle to warm up 30 minutes before waking up, that will help too.

Then, see #1 above – move your body- Tai Chi is great or take a brisk walk outside. Do some stretches. Whatever will get your blood and fluids circulating…it is such a great way to start the day.

3. Plan to do some movement in those brief moments throughout your day when it’s not enough time to do something else, it may be the times you might check email or social media. Find some physical activities you can do at those times. At least standings is better than sitting. Walking is even better. Plank pose is good. Push-ups- even modified push-ups against a wall. Some crunches. How about some lunges or squats or plies? High knees? What about calf raises where you go up and down onto your tip toes? Do you like jumping jacks or jumping rope? Swing your hips while you are standing. Overhead reaches to stretch out. Gently roll your neck and shoulders. How about some arm circles?

Please share your tricks to maintaining or incorporating physical activity into your day as you master the excuses.

Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash