No Such Thing As “No Time” to Exercise: What To Do If You’re “Too Busy”
I never have enough time to get everything done. A while back, I asked almost every client, “What would bring the largest jump in quality to your physical health?” I got 22 solid replies and 15 of them were the same. “I need more time”. Obviously, I’m not alone. There are only so many hours in the day and there’s just not enough to go around. Right?
Well, that’s not true. This is actually a story we tell ourselves. In reality, we all have a full 24 hours to get everything done. Unless we’re working two jobs and taking care of small children or elderly parents by ourselves, we do have a certain amount of leisure time each day.
How Much Time is “Enough” Time?
Americans, on average, have more than 5 hours of free time available each day. Most of the developed world has similar statistics. So, if we have so much leisure time, where does it all go? Well, in the US at least, 2.8 of those 5 hours are spent watching TV.
I don’t have anything against watching TV. Binging on Netflix or Amazon is fun…once in a while. But 2.8 hours a day means that we spend, on average, 1022 hours each year watching TV. (That’s 42 days.) If you were to plan how you wanted to use your time, would you choose to watch 1022 hours of TV? I doubt it. Few of us would chose to watch TV for 42 days. And yet, statistically, that’s precisely what we do.
It doesn’t matter if it’s TV or something else that takes your free time (Facebook, Twitter, and the like). The question is still the same. Are you spending your time mindfully? Do you choose how you spend your leisure time? Are you spending it the way you want or is it just slipping away? In addition, sitting almost 3 hours each day watching the tube is harmful to your physical health, as it shortens your life span, opens you up to diabetes, heart issues, and muscle and joint disease.
Pay attention to the pieces of time that you lose to social media, looking at your phone, talking to people you don’t like, shopping just to shop, and solving problems that wouldn’t exist if you’d done some planning first. (I plead guilty to that every day!)
How many ways are you wasting your leisure time without gaining any real benefit? Even with the influx of quality shows on TV, it’s hard to qualify watching TV as a meaningful use of time. Movement, of which exercise should be a meaningful part, is an important and healthy use of your time. Schedule 30 minutes into your day. You do have the time; just book yourself in. Take time for yourself.
What Happens When I Don’t Get Exercise?
Arthritis and its structural counterpart, osteoarthritis, doesn’t have to be part of your life, but it will be if you don’t make time to move. Even if you feel your posture isn’t picture-perfect and that you are not as mobile as you would like, a healthy body demands moving, not criticizing every step as not being perfect.
Osteoarthritis in particular can be avoided. It’s your movement patterns, your knees or feet turned out, your shoulders rounded and your head forward, and your C-curved back that create the environment for bone issues like osteoarthritis. You can avoid this, but not by sitting for 3 hours in front of the TV each day. It requires you to make the time to move with attention.
How Do I Change My Habits?
The health and wellness experts want us to exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. We certainly have time to do that. We can get to that magic 30 by walking, dancing, hiking, climbing, or running. If you want to lose weight or stay trim, then walking, running, climbing, or jogging outside over uneven surfaces and a more challenging terrain will do a better job of weight-loss and toning your body than a treadmill. Those uneven and unexpected surfaces will do wonders for your balance and proprioception, too. Make a conscious decision to spend 30 minutes building your heart muscle and lung capacity as well as strengthening your legs, back, and shoulders. Netflix won’t miss you.
Exercising at the gym usually doesn’t meet that 30-minute goal unless we spend that time on the treadmill, the rowing machine, or a bicycle. If you walk or bicycle to the gym, then it might, but make that a vigorous commute to and from the gym! Hailing an Uber or a taxi doesn’t count.
Weightlifting does good things for bone and muscle strength so that we can move about our day. Most weight work is not aerobic but there are complementary moves we can make to fill in the gap. Yoga and Pilates for 30 minutes or more does the job, and some forms of yoga and Pilates are close to an aerobic workout, so we can build our lung capacity and increase our heart health that way.
Yoga is the most popular mindfulness practice and its major emphasis is on attention, attention to form and to your breath, all to bring your wandering mind back to the task at hand. Movement requires the same attention, especially as sitting is just a step away. Yoga has specific movements to achieve specific positions, from simple moves to more complicated steps, but every movement should be done with attention, something we don’t do in our everyday lives.
There is enough time. But we have to make the choices to change our lives and create the opportunities for doing the things that we most want to do. Where our health is concerned, we can easily make time, conscious time, to move and enjoy that movement.
Whatever you choose to do, choose with purpose. Choose with intention. Falling into the couch for 3 hours of TV each day isn’t a good choice. If you feel that you need a coach or a weekly plan, call us. We have movement and exercise programs for every age, gender, and every time availability. Fill out the Contact form below and we’ll get right back to you.
Be well. Keep moving.
William M. Boland
