Exercise Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect

Read the headlines in the health section of the newspaper, or blog post titles, or fliers in your doctor’s office. Everyone in the health business is touting the benefits of exercise. But when do you have time for it? Is that something only “fitness buffs” really do? Is there even a point in trying to make it work? Of course there’s a point to it, you just need to get started. And it’s not your muscles you need to warm up first – it’s your mind.

Excuses Block You From Exercise Benefits

Excuses are the hurdles your mind tosses up before you ever put on your sneakers. You think of your old hour-long aerobics class and you feel overwhelmed and exhausted almost immediately, so aerobics in general gets voted down. You decide that a hot day completely and absolutely negates any chance of a walk. The sensation of getting sweaty and taking a few extra minutes to shower seems complicated and time-intensive, so you say no again.

What do all these excuses mean? Procrastination and perfectionism. Do you see how the excuses speak to the extremes? Exercise means a long aerobics class or nothing at all. Exercise means walking and running outside or nothing at all. Exercise means a long complicated ordeal or nothing at all. When you see exercise through a narrow black-and-white tunnel, it is easy to miss opportunities for exercise that can still be beneficial.

Breaking Down A Fitness Program Into Small Chunks

Studies show that breaking exercise into ten minute chunks is still beneficial for your heart and your sense of fitness. Doing something is far better than doing nothing. And even if the literal benefit to your body seems difficult to measure, the simple act of doing that small amount of exercise daily creates a big crack in the wall of excuses.

Once you get started, you may find your attitude about exercise changes enough to make it a higher priority in your schedule. And even if you still keep it at a smaller number of minutes, it’s a very manageable chunk. Yes, you may still find that an hour-long aerobics class with a shower and long commute crunches your schedule too much. But taking an extra ten minute walk inside your building before you leave for home isn’t too bad. And taking a ten minute walk before you sit down for breakfast in the morning isn’t a big deal.

Seeing Exercise As Manageable

When you see exercise as manageable, you are far more likely to do it. And let’s face it – you are guaranteed to get none of the benefits of exercise if you find ways to avoid it all the time. Ten minutes of exercise is better than zero minutes, right? You may not be sure you can manage an hour, but you know you can do ten minutes. Finally, your brain is warmed up for your exercise today.