Reclaiming Physical Fitness

More and more of us spend an alarming number of hours trapped behind a desk and get home too tired to think of anything except dinner and sitting in front of the tv. Americans have become some of the most sedentary people in the world as we’ve moved away from farms and factories and into offices. The design of our cities and our dependence on cars, has reduced the likelihood that you can walk or bike to a destination anymore. So, for most of us, exercise is an event that has to be scheduled and vies with other, perhaps more enjoyable, leisure occupations. We also are creatures of habit and if your habit is to drive to work, drive home and then turn on the tv – then you need to keep reading.

If it’s been a long time since you’ve been optimally active, you probably have good reasons. You may have had an injury that still bothers you, or put on weight that makes activity less comfortable. A new job, a new baby, or going back to school can eat up all the hours in the day and there just isn’t time to exercise. But what you’ll find is that the less active and less fit one becomes, the more tired, the more prone to injury and the more depressed one becomes. It’s easy to get caught in this downward spiral until one day you realize that if you don’t reclaim your physical fitness, nothing else will compensate you for that loss.

It is said that the best exercise routine is the one you do and that is absolutely true. Recent studies have shown that contrary to previous belief, exercise is cumulative in its beneficial effect. In other words, exercising for ten minutes four times a day is just as beneficial as a sustained forty minute workout. This is good news if you’ve been telling yourself you can’t spare the time to go to a gym. You don’t need to. Moving briskly for 30 minutes a day is enough to maintain good health. If your goal is to lose weight, regain tone or improve cardiac health, you’ll need to do more than the minimum. But the good thing about exercise is that every bit helps and a little is always better than none.

My recommendation is to add 5 – 10 minute stints of exercise throughout the day and build from there. Try to get your heart rate up high enough to break out into a sweat once a day. Walking up a flight of stairs quickly should do it for most of us or jogging with your dog. Park your car at the far end of the parking lot or add a 10 minute walk each time you go out to pick up the mail or buy a latte. To build muscle in the upper body, after getting a drink at the kitchen sink, do 10 slant push-aways from the edge of the counter. Easier than push ups on the floor, push-aways can be done from any fixed counter. Put a couple of hand weights next to your couch and use them whenever a commercial comes on. Do isometric contractions of your abs and glutes when you’re driving or whenever no one is watching. The goal is to tag a little extra exercise onto daily events that are already established patterns.

Then, each weekend, plan at least one event that will be fun and get you moving. Try taking a class in dance, tennis, tai chi or yoga. If you have joint issues. swimming or water aerobics can be of great benefit. Go for a hike with a friend or join a gym and commit to going at least on weekends. Anything that gets you out of the armchair and moving is a plus. Take the first step and each following one will get easier and easier on the road to recovering physical fitness. We can change our sedentary habits and enjoy a life of greater health and vitality – beginning today.

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