 |
Finding Time to Exercise
Exercising During Commercials
I'm getting up an hour earlier these days. At first I said I'd never be able to do it: I was already sleep deprived rising at 6 AM how would I ever get up at 5 AM? I'd never be able to get to sleep earlier (this is still true), and a hundred other reasons why it wouldn't work. And then I tried it, and it does work. I'm still sleep deprived, but that extra hour in the morning is a Godsend. I love it.
How do you Present Ideas to Yourself?
So why did it take me so long to "just do it?" Probably the way I presented the idea to myself. Notice I used words such as "never" and "already" as in "I'm already sleep deprived." I kept telling myself it wouldn't work, that it was a bad idea and until the first time I actually tried it, I secretly believed when the alarm rang, I'd just turn it off and go back to sleep. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy getting up early. Mornings are my best time of day. I'm the most productive in the morning so it makes sense to give myself an extra hour.
I Don't Have Time to Exercise
Sometimes a small adjustment in how you run your day can help enormously in freeing up some time for things like exercise. "I don't have time." I hear that a lot, but if asked, "What's your favorite TV show?" most people can list a few -- hours spent sitting and watching. There's nothing wrong with enjoying some TV, but there's also no reason you can't exercise during the commercials.
When I was a kid and it was my turn to clean the house, I made a game out of it. I loved TV, watching probably six or seven hours a day then, so missing a show to clean was not going to happen. So I'd clean during commercials. Today there are over 20 minutes of commercial time during each hour of the show. That's plenty of time for getting things done. As soon as the show broke for commercial, I'd jump from my chair and dash to wherever I'd left off. I'd bring in laundry and fold it while I watched. I'd iron in front of the TV, I'd bring in piles of miscellaneous debris from other rooms and sort it into piles for where it belonged, then on the next commercial I'd go put things away.
I'd move from one room to the next, carrying things that belonged there with me, and returning with things that did not. Eventually the house was clean, and hadn't missed my programs.
If you enjoy TV, consider how much time there is available during the commercials and start using it. Whether for exercise or cleaning, or anything else you need to get done: responding to correspondence, studying, paying bills, grooming the cat - there are lots of little chores we need to do, no reason we can't carry them into our TV room and get them done.
Turn TV Time into "Get Fit" Time
You can turn your TV room into a fitness room easily. A cushy floor mat, if the room isn't carpeted. A pair of dumbbells or two. Empty bleach jugs make good dumbbells, but be careful if they are only partially full of sand, dirt or water (whatever you use to fill them with something to create the weight), as if the weight shifts during the movement you could injure yourself.
Canned food make good homemade weights. I have half pound and one pound cans, heavier can may be too difficult to hold. Go on a scouting expedition around your house and see what you find that could work as weights then store them behind the couch and start using them. Twice a week or three times, consistently, and you'll start noticing a change within a short time - usually in a month or six weeks definitely.
My first exercise equipment was a pair of dumbbells, a one pound and a five pound set. You don't have to have a fully equipped home gym to exercise at home.
Push ups are an incredible exercise, men's and women's style. No special equipment needed, just get on the floor and start. Standing squats (pretend you are going to sit in a chair, then stop at about or before chair level, and return to standing straight). There are even books written for exercising on the commercial breaks. I put together a page with a few of the books I've found which present this concept such as "The Commercial Break Workout: Trim and Tone Two Minutes at a Time" by Linda Buch and Seth Anne Snider-Copley.
Grab some Extra Minutes and Get Started
I wanted to get up an hour earlier so I could work out in the mornings. When I exercise first thing, nothing else interferes. No matter what comes up, it doesn't take away from my fitness program. Unexpected calls or invitations, traffic jams, "There's no bread," yells my son who still thinks it's my job to keep the pantry stocked, so I need to run to the store, nothing ruins my day's plan to ride my bike or lift weights. The consistency of a regular exercise program just makes me feel good - you might find it does the same for you, and if you have had a difficult time finding time - make time. Grab some extra minutes during commercials on TV, get up earlier, find whatever works for you. Write it on your calendar, make a date with yourself, and get started. Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, and author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss. Visit OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com to learn how she lost 80 pounds over 20 years ago and kept it off, and how you can do the same.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Exercise Intensity
"Physical Fitness"Some physical activities (exercise) are not intense enough to help you meet the FDA recommendations for being physically fit. Although you are moving, these activities do not increase your heart rate, so you should not count these towards the 30 or more minutes a day that you should strive for.
Arthritis Exercise - One Way to Relieve Pain & Stiffness in Your Joints (part 2)
Even when you cannot make it out to walk or to an aquatics or yoga class, there are exercises you can do daily to improve flexibility, strength and conditioning when you suffer from arthritis. You can flex your legs while sitting in a chair facing forward, simply by moving your leg outward while keeping your foot on the floor and holding it there for a few seconds, then retracting it until your foot is behind you, then alternating to the other leg.
5 Little Known Benefits of Warming Up & Cooling Down After Exercising
While working out in the gym, I have noticed that many exercisers
tend to skip two very important parts of their workout. It is
crucial that exercisers starts with a warm-up and ends with a
cool-down.
Why You Should Learn Tai Chi
Learning Tai ChiTai Chi combines movement, meditation and breathing,
to enhance the flow of vital energy in the body, to increase both physical and
mental well-being.Tai Chi is one of the most broadly applicable systems
of self-care in the world and is suitable for both young and old alike.
Mom, How F.I.T.T. Is Your Workout?
Moms don't have the time or desire to mess around with complicated workouts that don't get results. If you want real Mommy Muscle you need a plan that's based on principles not infomercials and advertising.
Programming Brief: Exercise Order
One of the fundamental principles of exercise prescription, specifically resistance training, is the principle of exercise order. Which exercises do I do first? Which do I do last? Does exercise order really matter? From personal observations in the weight room, it would seem to many it doesn't matter.
Success Versus Failure in the Exercise Department
Success is what you are prepared to make of yourself every single day. That one cold morning when you want to roll over but instead get up and go to workout, is a defining moment.
The Truth About Lactate and Exercise
For years exercise scientists and physiologists have preached that lactate/lactic acid build-up in the muscle is the direct cause of muscle fatigue and a decrease in performance. It is proposed that lactate builds up in the muscle cells during intense exercise and literally "poisons" them, essentially shutting down activity biochemically by reducing the pH or increasing the acidity level.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a system of over 500 controlled exercises that engage the mind and condition the total body by using a popular exercise regimen that uses special stretches and machines. Named after Joseph Pilates, Pilates exercise system has proven itself invaluable not only to the fitness user, but to the professional trainers as well.
Should You Train Before Bedtime?
A Japanese study found that if you exercise at night you will be
less tired the next day. Apparently it increases testosterone
levels.
Overcoming Resistance to Exercise
Are You Destined to Sit on the Couch?If someone mentions exercise do you think, "I hate to exercise. There's no way I'm doing that.
See How Trampolines Can Be Part Of Any Exercise Program
When the trampoline was invented by a young boy intrigued
by the ability of aerialists to bounce in a net and perform
artistic maneuvers while they did so, it literally became
the "springboard" for a whole new sport.George Nissen, who was a tumbler and gymnast himself, took
the sports to a whole new height by putting them on canvas
strung in a metal frame.
Exercise Equals Fun!
Getting America's children to exercise has never been more difficult as the new boob-tube generation slouches in front of TVs, or sits for hours, mesmerized behind shoot-out video and computer games.However, it is possible to foster a regular exercise pattern for children from an early age, with simple activities that are more "fun" than "exercise.
A 30-minute, Or Less, Full Body Workout
Most people do not have the time to do biceps and back one day, then legs and shoulders the next, then triceps and abdominals the next day. So here is a short, and every effective full body weight session you can easily get done in 30 minutes or less.
Tips To Deal with Exercise Induced Asthma
For approximately 80-90% of people that suffer from asthma, exercise can be a strong stimulus for an attack. This syndrome has become known as exercise induced asthma or EIA.
Lance Armstrongs Training Tactics: #1 Rule - Greatness Needs NO Explanation!
Great endurance racers will tell you "Leave your egos at the starting gates." One of
the hardest things in any race, especially the Tour De France that you will never
notice is one's ability to tame the ego.
Invest in Your Health
What if a trusted friend were to tell you about an investment where you could not possibly go wrong..
Planning An Exercise Program
When designing an aerobic or strength training exercise program, fitness professionals, such as personal trainers and gym instructors, invariably use the F.I.
Lose Weight - Stay Fit and Stick With It!
Health and nutrition experts continually advise us that the more we exercise the healthier we will be. In magazines, the doctor's office or on television we are never far from information showing us how to exercise, what to eat and how to lose weight.
Exercise & Motivation, Part 2: Overcoming Inertia & Getting Started
In the first article in this series (http://tinyurl.com/8ztbo), we gave you an overview of the stages of change in Prochaska's Transtheoretical model.
|
