The Cheat’s Guide to Exercise
No? But we all know the benefits of regular exercise. We know that if we exercise regularly we are less likely to develop illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, bowel cancer, breast cancer and osteoporosis. We know that exercise will help us lose weight. We know that exercise will make us feel better. We know that regular exercise will help us live longer. We know. We know. We know.
So why, for some of us, is it SO VERY DIFFICULT!
It’s easy to find reasons for not exercising. How on earth do you to find the time to exercise when you hardly have time to draw breath? You’d rather die than exhibit your less-than-perfect body by exercising in public. You can hardly afford to pay for little Kellie-Ann’s dance classes, let alone fork out hundreds of dollars to join a gym.
But there is some good news on the exercise front. Short bursts of exercise, as little as three 10-minute sessions a day on five days a week, help prevent heart disease. Studies show that short bursts of exercise help lower fats in the blood after eating a fatty meal. These findings should be just the motivation for exercise-phobic people to get moving. But a word of warning, a leisurely stroll doesn’t count; your exercise must make your heart rate increase, get you warm, mildly out of breath, and mildly sweaty.
So sling that unused lycra aerobics jump suit you bought in 1982 into the bin, put your gym fees into buying a Fendi handbag – and get moving in your own way.
So how can you incorporate ten-minute bursts of exercise into a busy day? You could do some simple exercises for 10 minutes in the morning before everyone gets up, take a 10-minute walk at lunchtime, and another 10-minute walk after dinner. It’s that simple to work in 30 minutes of activity. One study found that women who split their exercise into 10-minute increments were more likely to exercise consistently, and lost more weight after five months than women who exercised for 20 to 40 minutes at a time.
Here are my Top 10 ideas:
1. Park your car a ten minute walk away from where you want to go, whether it’s to work, to visit your mother or take the kids to school (the exercise will do them good too). You have to walk back, of course, so that’s two ten-minute sessions. If you work, go for a ten minute walk at lunchtime.
2. Get that bicycle out of the garage, hop on and cycle away for five minutes, turn around and cycle home again.
3. Put on some funky music and dance, dance, dance. Go on, no one’s watching so you can be as ‘John Travolta’ as you like!
4. Play a game with the kids – hopscotch, tag, ball games, skipping. They’ll love it and it will do you all good.
5. Do some gardening. Digging, mowing the lawn, sweeping up leaves all count.
6. Use an exercise bike while watching TV.
7. Turn your housework into a musical. Put on the music Put your back into your housework – do some lunges while you hoover, stretch while you dust (make sure you use both arms), bend at the waist to put away dishes, tap dance in the kitchen, skip your way around the house.
8. You don’t even have to leave the house. Put the kitchen timer on for ten minutes and walk briskly – from kitchen to sitting-room, round the settee, up the stairs, visit all the bedrooms, down the stairs, through the hall, out into the garden, from front door to back door. Before you know it, that ten minutes is done.
9. Dig out those old fitness tapes – and do ten minutes. Stop the tape and the next time, carry on where you left off (after doing some warm-ups).
10. Have sex! Not that anyone needs an excuse to have sex, but it’s really good for the heart, so give your partner a thrill and up the frequency.
In addition, lots of little things add up. Walk to the postbox to post that letter, take the stairs rather than the lift, put the phone on a long cord and walk while you talk, Just keep moving.
And another wonderful piece of news for we couch potatoes is that fidgeting helps burn calories. Never sit still – tap your feet, jiggle your legs, sway your body, nod your head, wriggle your fingers, clench and unclench your fists. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you keep moving.
Have fund. I know that some of these ideas may make you look like an idiot but, hopefully, in a few months time at least you’ll be a slim and healthy idiot!
