How to Find Time for Fitness
ByGreg Rouse
This article is directed towards all those
folks that are having a hard time getting
those workouts in. We often have a tendency
to neglect our bodies for what we deem important
or necessary. As the saying goes, "You can
have the greatest mind in the world, but if
you don’t have something to carry it around
in, it’s worthless". The body is the instrument
of the mind, so take care of it.
Full-time work, family commitments
and life in general can sometimes put
a hamper on your fitness, but with the
proper planning you can still make time
for training. All it takes is a little
scheduling and exercise can be efficiently
interwoven into your busy day. Here are
a few ideas:
Commuting
Riding your bike or walking to work or
school can be one of the best ways to
create time for exercise. When you use
your commute for exercise, time normally
spent sitting in a car is used productively
as part of your exercise routine. For
example, an eight-mile ride takes about
30 minutes each way. If you do nothing
else for exercise the whole week that’s
still an hour of exercise each day.
Another benefit is arriving at your job
refreshed and alert. It may be tough to
get up earlier for the extra commute time
but the physical and mental lift you will
experience from it will pay big dividends
during the traditional "10 a.m. slump"
that the average worker experiences. Not
to mention the ride home and the benefits
derived, such as, blowing away job-related
frustrations, so you can be refreshed
and ready for family and evening responsibilities.
I personally think that the reason for
so many of the mental health issues of
our day is the fact that we don’t have
any down time. We finish work and then
race home in our cars or race to the store
and back, or race school and back, etc.
With modern technology we get there as
fast as we can and shove as much information
in as we can, meanwhile, there’s no time
to process it all. I think using our commute
is one way to deal with this, it buys
you the time to process the day, besides
the added fitness benefit.
Overcoming The Excuses For Not Commuting
I get too sweaty before work - Clean
up in the restroom with a lightly soaped
washcloth or babywipes. Meanwhile, get
coworkers interested in commuting and
lobby your boss to install a shower.
My commute is too far - A lot of communities
have public transit (a bus) where you
can take your bike with you and then ride
home. Heck, even if you have to have someone
drop you off in the morning so you can
ride home in the evening, isn’t your health
worth it? You may even be able to find
someone to commute with one-way. (Note:
this one works for the first excuse as
well)
What about my clothes, etc... - Use a small
backpack to carry clothes, lunch and papers
or take the week’s clothes to work and
change there, then shuttle them home on
the weekend. I personally use a file cabinet
to keep mine in.
There’s nowhere to change - Dress in
your office or use the restroom or a storage
room. I have to use the corner of my office
where no one can see me through the window
when the door is closed.
Other Options
Now if commuting still won't work for
you, here are some other options:
Consider the early bird special. Getting
up in the pre-dawn hours may be the ultimate
test of commitment, but it’ll payoff big
later on. The benefits you will feel throughout
the day are great, although it may take
a week or two to start feeling them. In
order to be successful, roll out of bed
the minute the alarm goes off, the longer
you lie there, the harder it is to extricate
yourself from your pillow. Sleep loss
is the biggest risk with this method,
so make up the deficit by going to bed
earlier (which is usually not a problem
after you’ve been doing this for a few
days). It’s vital to get enough rest.
Lack of sleep can lead to deep fatigue
and poor performance in everything you
do.
Another option is the lunch hour. Going
for a walk or ride at lunchtime is an
easy way to fit in a regular exercise
time and it has the added benefit of clearing
the cobwebs and making you more productive
at work. You can bring your bike and/or
a change of clothes to work if needed
and you can often get other people from
the office involved as well.
Now, I don’t recommend exercising in
the evening because of the demands of
family, etc... or right before bedtime as
it has a tendency to stimulate the mind
and body, which results in poor sleep
habits. Also, people generally have a
tendency to skip evening workouts the
most because of fatigue from the day.
That’s one of the beauties of using your
commute for exercise, even though it’s
the end of the day you still have to get
home, so you just do it. With that said,
if you do have enough time before bed
(at least 3 - 4 hours) and you can involve
the family, it’s not a bad way to fit
some exercise in.
The only other option left is to figure
out if there’s somewhere else you visit
daily, such as the store, bank, a friends
house, etc... and then make sure you bike
or walk there always. I have a little
old grandmother who’s in her 90’s and
fit as can be because she always walked
everywhere she went, including the store
to get her groceries. Of course the fact
that she never had a driver’s license
helped.
Closing
Finally, to avoid getting bored, you
can spice things up a little by exploring
a different route, doing intervals, time
trials, or hitting the hills for a better
workout. You can also find a partner to
commute with, bring some music to listen
to, or possibly some books on tape.
In closing, remember that walking is
always your ace in the hole. You can do
it anywhere, in any weather conditions,
and it doesn’t take any equipment. So
now you don’t have any excuse.
About the Author:
Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness
sports and emergency response at the university
and college level for over a decade. He
is also the founder of a unique web site
called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop
resource for self-guided wilderness trip
planning. This web site is basically;
a free online guidebook that photo-documents
trips with interactive maps and detailed
route descriptions. Each trip has free
pictures and free topographic maps of
the trail, all in a print-friendly format.
Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Rouse
