Even if you don’t think you have enough time to exercise, here’s what you can do.
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• If you have to schedule exercise on purpose, you are less likely to do so. It’s the first thing you do when you get busy.
• It is wise to incorporate exercise into as many different routines as possible. In this way, exercise becomes a habit.
• You can even exercise at work, such as standing or running meetings, or start each meeting with exercise.
Eventually, reach a point where you’re exercising without even realizing it — doing sit-ups even on crunches.
Not to suggest that everyone should go anywhere in a full sprint: it can be tough for anyone carrying an ice cream cone or going through a turnstile. But it does highlight a big reason why many people may not be getting enough exercise. For many, exercise has become a planned affair rather than integrated into everyone’s routine.
These days, the only way you can exercise is to go to (or drive to) a gym or some kind of class. This is not how humans were originally designed to exercise. Cave people probably don’t say, “Well, it looks like my gym membership has expired” or “My Pilates class is scheduled for 4pm. So much has happened to get physical activity out of different routines Technological advances. Did the inventors of the bicycle realize that one day people would exercise on bicycles that would go nowhere because they had stopped using real bicycles to go anywhere?
The problem is, if you have to deliberately schedule something, you’re unlikely to do so. It’s the first thing you do when you get busy. So the best way to ensure you’re getting exercise is to incorporate it into as many different things as possible. Here are eight methods:
1. Walk or bike to places instead of driving. You might say you don’t have time, but think about how much time you spend looking for parking, filling up and sitting in traffic.
2. Take the stairs whenever possible. Unless you’re injured, carrying a bowling basket, or physically unable to climb stairs, there’s no reason you’d have to take an elevator in order to go up and down a few floors.
3. Start each session with one minute of stretching and one minute of cardio. That’s what my team does for every meeting. Doing this has the double benefit of clearing your head before a meeting, increasing your productivity, and knowing which outfits work and which don’t when doing burpees.
4. Have a standup meeting, or even a jogging or biking session. You can even turn an entire meeting into a stand-up (meaning body positioning and scheduling) or a mobile meeting. For example, whenever I visit Pro HQ, I go to a bike meeting and we’ll ride outside while talking about bikes.
5. Have physical social activities instead of sedentary parties. Who said standing around with a drink in hand was the only way to socialize? Why not play tennis, volleyball, basketball, touch football, hopscotch or anything else that gets your body moving? That way, when you have nothing superficial to say, you have something to do.
6. Walk or run while talking on the phone. Yes, you can do both at the same time. Just make sure the other person on the call understands why you’re out of breath.
7. Do a little dance. You know the saying, “Dance like no one’s watching? Well, do it. Express yourself through dance. Dance in the shower. When you hear the good news. When you see some avocado toast.”
8. Do whatever you’re looking at. What’s the point of watching other people go around on TV, movies, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms when you’re not doing it yourself? Instead, while observing others, try to reflect what they are doing at the same time.
Eventually, you want to reach a point where you’re exercising without even really realizing it. Even when you’re in a crunch, you’re doing crunches. Even when you think your heart is not in it, your heart rate will increase. Even after you have…well, you get it.
