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Health & Fitness

No Time for Exercise, Seriously?

Exercising 30 minutes a day only uses up 2% of your available time, so having no time for exercise is a lame excuse.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, watching television accounts for the largest share of Americans leisure time. The Nielson ratings service estimates that the average American spends 34 hours each week watching television, and another 20+ hours a week on social media sites. Add these two activities to an average of 8 hours of sleep a night , and you can account for two thirds of your life. No wonder most people can't find time to exercise.

Adequate sleep is an extremely important part of staying fit and healthy. I strongly urge everyone to get at least 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night or more. So there is no shaving time from sleep, since most people already get less than they require. It looks like watching television and looking at social media sites have to go to the chopping block. Before anyone goes into a frenzy trying to figure out how they can miss any part of their favorite tv shows, lets look at how much time you need to minimally spend on exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 70 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. That is 30 minutes a day 5 days a week for moderate exercise such as walking, gardening, cycling at a leisurely pace etc. This equates to a total of 2% of your entire day spent exercising, which will give you a lifetime of benefits. A one half hour televison show given up for better sleep, focus, energy, health and many other benefits seems a small price to pay.

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Like any important part of your life, you need to schedule your exercise period each day as well as hardwire physical activities into your daily routine. If you say to yourself, I will exercise later, it comes and goes and is always the first thing given up. You must decide what time of day is best for you, and put it on your calendar. Just like you know the tv schedule, you need to have a workout schedule. You also have to develop habits that build physical activity into your daily life. Walk or ride a bike for some of your weekend errands. Park further away from stores and other destinations and always use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. While walking in a park, stop and do some push ups and dips on a park bench. Do some pull ups on the monkey bars or a tree branch. Walk to a co-workers desk or office, instead of sending them an email when they work 20 feet from you.

If you are really pressed for time, you can do high intensity workouts that only last 20 minutes. You can also break your exercise sessions into 2 or 3 parts throughout the day. The important part is to sit less, and get moving. A personal trainer can teach you how to develop these workouts and skills and provide the motivation to get started and to keep it up.

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Stephen Stern, BS, CPT

Common Sense Fitness

605 Washington Avenue, North Haven, Ct. 06473

203-530-1811

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