Pillar 4: Learning to Fit Physical Activity Into Your Life
Put very simply, you absolutely must exercise if you are going to be healthy. A fit, happy, healthy lifestyle benefits from consistent movement and moderate to intense physical activity.
To be clear, this does not mean you have to start weightlifting, running and playing sports for hours every day. In face, the American Heart Association, Health Canada, and other respected fitness and health institutions around the world, recommend 2.5 hours of moderately intense physical activity every week as a part of a healthy lifestyle. Other research has shown that when you exceed 4 or 5 hours of exercise weekly, you actually begin to do more harm than good.
So aim for about 30 minutes of activity each and every day, whether it be walking, jogging, bike riding, hiking, swimming, yoga, Pilates or bodyweight training.
How do I Find Time to Exercise?
This seems to be the penultimate question. You may not feel as though you have enough time to fit regular physical activity into your weekly routine. But you do. If you want to look and feel healthy, live a long life with minimal health problems, and enjoy the many rewards that optimal health offers, working out, exercising and staying active is a “must-have” component. So you will have to make the time. Here are 4 tips to help you.
1 – Schedule Time. Making a place in your weekly schedule for physical exertion really is not as hard as it may appear at first glance. Sit down and write out your entire week’s worth of activities. Fitting in just 30 minutes of exercise 4 or 5 days a week shouldn’t be that hard.
2 – Be Mindful. Just remember to alternate muscle groups from one day to the next. Never work the same muscles on back-to-back days. Make sure you drink lots of water, and get plenty of sleep. Then the rest is up to you, finding “holes” in your schedule to work out, exercise or just stay physically active.
3- Cumulative Counts. Remember, a couple of 15-minute sessions of exercise equals the rewards of a single 30 minute session. If you have a long lunch break, 10 to 30 minutes of it can be devoted to physical activity. You can simply wake up 30 minutes earlier 3 or 4 days a week to get your daily routine started in a healthy manner.
4- Its Your Choice. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is all about choice. When you prioritize being physically active as something that is important to you, you make a voluntary choice to be healthy. If you convince yourself that there is no possible way you can squeeze a couple of hours out of the 168 that you are allotted each week to enjoy a healthier, fitter, fuller lifestyle, that is the reality that you choose.
But that also means choosing the health problems, low self-esteem, anxiety and stress that accompany an inactive lifestyle. Make physical activity a high priority in your life. Combined with the other fit and healthy lifestyle recommendations in this report, such as eating natural foods, finding time to stay physically active in your busy life can pay huge, positive dividends.
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