Doctor’s recommendations, news reports, and a multitude of research support the benefits of exercise. A healthy weight, decreased stress, and increased overall mood throughout the day are enticing factors to be attracted to. A plethora of reasons to exercise to support our overall quality of life can make a list of reasons to invest in routine exercise adherence that can fill up the word space of this entire page. However, over half of our society struggles with ingraining exercise as a staple in their lives. While the proof is in the pudding when it comes to unveiling the benefits of exercise, why is it so hard to devote at least fifteen minutes of daily exercise?
A pesky factor impeding us from exercising is time. Family obligations, personal appointments, and the forty-hour work week all require a certain amount of time, energy, and thoughts vested from us. Picking up kids from school, making doctors or dentist appointments, or devoting a substantial number of hours toward our careers requires significant attention. However, every human on this planet is granted twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week.
Most of us know what we need to do regarding exercise. We don’t need a doctor’s referral to drive to a nearby local gym, attend a Yoga class, or walk throughout the stunning Napa countryside. So, what can we do if we don’t have time? Or, what happens if we get so overwhelmed by the confines of our busy life schedule that we say, “forget it” and omit exercise completely?
A solution we recommend to our personal training clients who struggle to find time to exercise outside of their weekly training appointments is to identify exercise-themed days throughout the week. For example, on the days our clients have training appointments reserved for seventy minutes worth of one-on-one guided fitness coaching, they commit those days as “exercise-themed” days. This means nothing can get in the way of their exercise appointment on the days they meet for personal training appointments. No partying the night before, no hair and nail appointments, the kids are already dropped off at school, or childcare has been organized before this appointment to allow this exercise reservation. Therefore, the factors that could stress us out and make a mad dash for the gym while racing the clock is tamed down because of the reserved appointment.
This practice of reserving time on “exercise-themed” days is also effective outside of the personal training arena. For example, some of the residents of Japan reserve a few minutes as the sun rises every morning to practice Tai Chi on their front lawns. They have dedicated that time to putting life’s endless hustle on hold so they can focus solely on themselves to achieve the health benefits of the ritual of physical activity. The layout of time allocation in our days aren’t much different in the busy lives we live in our society. The Earth spins the same at our present location as on every other continent where there is a twenty-four-hour clock present. The only difference for these morning Tai Chi practitioners is that they have made a ritual to practice their preferred exercise, akin to how we make a ritual of standing in line during a morning Starbucks coffee runs. We can implement this same practice our Tai Chi friends do by turning our phones and televisions off and putting our busy lives on hold. Once we pave this time out of our day, we can consistently focus on exercise tactics gifting us a healthier life.
Whether scheduling a time to attend a dance class, play pickleball with a group of three other friends, or take a long walk, reserving the time to do so is always available. It’s challenging to do these things if we don’t commit to dedicating time exclusively for ourselves. Let’s put our technological peripheral brains on hold for a few moments. When you return from a brief bout of physical activity, computers, phones, televisions, video games, and other technological dependencies will always be there. I promise they aren’t going anywhere. However, our time stays behind us if we don’t allocate meaningful activities toward the twenty-four hours we have. Let’s take some time out for ourselves to give the gift of exercise to enjoy a happy, healthy, and strong quality of life.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
