We all know that we should be exercising. After all, we’ve read the studies, we’ve heard the ads, we may even have been warned about it. We know that regular exercise has been proven to improve our health, decrease our chances for illness and disease, and extends our life.
Exercise is the best gift you can give yourself.
Consistent, regular exercise can change your life in ways you may not have even considered. Here are just a few of those benefits you can expect when you add movement to your day:
Your Self-esteem Gets A Boost – you’ll feel you’ve accomplished something and done something amazing for yourself.
Your Skin Will Glow – Regular exercise can help reduce the dullness of skin tone and may even prevent the signs of early aging.
You’ll Catch More Z’s – If good, quality sleep eludes you, try just 15 minutes of exercise a day and notice the improvements.
You’ll control your weight – burning those calories you’ve consumed helps you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight and build muscle tone.
You’ll Sharpen Your Memory and Improve Brain Function – exercising regularly can prevent brain fog, and stimulates hormone production to aid in the repair and growth of your brain cells.
You’ll reduce chronic pain – as long as you’re active, you may find an increased pain tolerance, thereby decreasing your body’s perception of aches and pains.
You’ll feel happier – Regular exercise helps prevent feelings of anxiety and depression – it’ll uplift your mood.
With so many awesome benefits, you’d think everyone would have a daily exercise habit, but only a fraction of us do.
So many people THINK about creating a healthy lifestyle and getting their daily workout in, but what happens?
We make excuses. We get tired. Life gets in the way.
“Excuses don’t for good health make” as the saying goes. And the mother of all lack of exercise excuses: I just don’t have the time.
Here’s what I’ve learned about time: We all have the time for what we prioritize. If our health is a priority – we make the time for it. That eliminates the time excuse right there altogether.
With a little mindset shift in your thinking – ‘we make the time for what we feel is important’ you can find a few minutes to move your body each day – and I’m sure you can find JUST 7 minutes.
Since we know WHY we’d want to make exercise part of our daily healthy living strategy, here’s HOW you can carve out just a few minutes in your day to dedicate to moving your body:
Make a Plan
The first thing to do is to make space in your schedule. Next, put it right in your day planner as you would any other appointment in your calendar. Think of it as an appointment with your health!
Then, find the time. Carve it out. You don’t need to take a huge chunk of time. 30 minutes a day will do the trick. And it works even if you divide it up into 2-15 minutes blocks or even 3 10 minutes blocks of time. You can totally do this.
Just. Get. Started. – Start Small
That 10 minutes a day is better than doing nothing at all! I’ll go even better – how about just 7? Follow this super simple 12-Exercise Circuit that uses only body weight, a chair (or a bench or step) and a wall – all in just 7 minutes.
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds (with 10 seconds of transition time to the next exercise). The circuit can be repeated 2 to 3 times all at once or different times in the day depending on your level of fitness and the time you’ve got to get your body moving – and get all those awesome health benefits of regular exercise too!
If you’re only doing the circuit one time, MAKE IT COUNT. Put some extra muscle into the strength-body weight moves to maximize that metabolism revving opportunity!
Here’s the Heart Pumping 7 Minutes to Health Circuit:
- Jumping jacks
- Wall sit with knees at 90 degrees
- Push-ups, full/military or modified/knees down
- Burpees
- Squats, all varieties
- Triceps dip on a chair or bench
- Plank – elbows or high plank (arms extended)
- High knees, running in place
- Alternating lunges/split squats/reverse lunges
- Step-up onto a chair or bench
- Push-ups with rotation or side plank, each side
- Ab crunches or bicycles
Get Creative – Add More Movement In
Everyone has 30 minutes a day to dedicate to their health. Here are some other ways to get more movement into your day:
- Split your lunch or midday break in half and take a brisk walk
- Take the stairs whenever possible
- Park further away from the entrance of a store
- Dance while you’re making dinner
Be creative, and get in your movement wherever you can. Your health and wellbeing depends on your ACTION. Literally.
Make it a Habit
Ask yourself this question: Can you really afford NOT to find time to exercise? The key is to keep up with this daily exercise habit.
It’s your health and wellness at stake. Your body will thank you for making the time in your schedule to care for it.
Get Support – Join the Club!
If you’d like some motivation, encouragement, and inspiration to move more, there’s a movement challenge going on right now in my Energized Healthy Women’s Club for the month of April. It’s not too late to join us and we’d love to have you along. The more the merrier!
