Easy Quick Exercises

95% of us don't get enough exercise in our day to stay healthy, happy and energetic. 

When we talk about being peak performers, overcoming procrastination, setting goals and achieving them and getting unstuck in our lives…how can we possibly do that while remaining sedentary?

Exercise does so many things that enhances our quality of life, physical and emotional health:

• Keeps our stress level down
• Helps regulate our blood sugar level
• Regulates the production of chemicals that help us stay positive
• Keep our minds healthy and active improving thinking, analysis, judgement and memory
• Helps maintain proper DNA and cell activity warding off cancers and inlammatory diseases
• Maintains a healthy balance of fat and muscle helping save our tissue and organs from dangerous toxins

Yet, when we look at a typical daily schedule without exercise we may wonder…how can we possibly fit 30-45 minutes MORE into our day for exercise?

Here are 10 Ways To Get More Exercise Into Your Busy Schedule

1. Get up 30-minutes earlier.  Most of us wake up at between 6:30 and 7:30 AM, the impact of 30-minutes less sleep versus getting 30-45 minutes of quality exercise make it a no-brainer – get the exercise and try to regain that 30-minutes by going to bed earlier.  Either way, we tend to need more sleep when we are sedentary than active

2. Take the stairs. If you walk to work or work in an office where you typically take the elevator, then take the stairs instead.  By taking the stairs 4-5 floors 4X each day you get the equivilant exercise of a 30-minute walk

3. Take short 10-minute walks on your breaks.  If you are studying, working or just kicking back and relaxing – we all need a break, instead of grabbing a snack, watching TV or getting a cup of coffee, take a walk or job instead

4. Break it into parts.  While finding a block of time 45-minutes long may be impossible with your current schedule, try fitting 10-minutes in 4X a day to get the same effect

5. Get the gym when you can.  Too many people avoid the gym because they get down on themselves and feel they can't commit to a set schedule.  But, there are often 2-3 times a week where you can fit the gym into your schedule, so loosen up and take those times as they come

6. Do something fun.  We always think of exercise as painful or doing things we don't really enjoy doing – but what if we just took a 20-minute bike ride after work or walked/jogged by a stream during lunch?  Think of fun ways to get exercise and enjoy it!

7. Are you a golfer – park that cart!  I'm guilty too, but walking 18-holes on a golf course gets you the daily exercise you need, so park that cart and take a walk

8. Fit in a quick 20.  Even if you are strapped to your office, hotel or house – nothing stops you from doing a quick 20 sit-ups, push-ups, curls or jogging on the spot for 5-10 minutes…it all adds up and you will be amazed at how easy it can be to fit 30-45 minutes of activity in on the busiest of days

9. Exercise while you watch TV.  If you televevision in your relaxation, then jog on the spot, work through a floor routine of crunches and push ups or work your treadmill as you watch your favorite show.  Not only will you relax, but you will get getting fit in the process

10. Take up a sport that is both fun, challenging, allows you to network and gives you the exercise you need a few times each week.  Swim, golf, hockey, soccer, frisbee – these are all terrific, fun activities that you can commit to and get the exercise you need at the same time.

At the end of the day, you have to believe that getting 30-45 minutes of exercise each day will be a huge benefit to you…once you make that decision, you will find a way.

Do you have another way that people can get their exercise in a busy day? Leave a comment.

All of us tend to get sidetracked this time of year with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it can be challenging to keep up our exercise routine – so what happens when you lose your motivation to exercise?

In fact, what happens when we lose our motivation to do just about anything – some would even say they get depressed making it even harder to get back to active exercise.

Certainly breaking free of ruts, challenging ourselves to live happier, more energetic and productive, fun lives is a reality – the blueprint inside Attracting Greatness talks about the 5 Pillars of Greatness consistent with the most successful people over the last 100 years, but here are 3 ways to get more motivated about exercising:

3 things that may help you get motivated to exercise

1. Link your health to something you really want badly – getting a date, attracting someone to you, impressing a friend, gaining new friends, etc… Imagine what this person or people would think of you if you look and feel more fit…that should help you get motivated.

2. Suspend your disbelief. Give yourself 3-days and commit to getting 20-30 minutes of exercise each of these 3-days and then see how you feel. This works when I get stuck in a rut. After the first few sessions (either at home, outside for a jog, to a gym, etc…) I feel so good I typically stay on track.

3. Mix up your routine. Exercise doesn't have to mean a workout at the gym. Going for a brisk walk in the morning is great cardio and will help with fat loss if your walk is brisk and lengthy enough. Head to your local indoor pool – it's great to swim hard for 20-minutes and then take a hot tub in the cold winter. Spend 10-minutes going up and down your stairs followed by another 10-minutes of situps, pushups and jogging on the spot while you watch TV. It doesn't matter where you get your exercise, just get it in.

It's funny that our minds forget how great it feels to be active – to be in motion, so what we have to do is get our bodies in motion for our mind to re-discover the positive feelings of exercise.

Of course, when we talk about longevity, there is no simple, one-factor answer but rather a complex mashup of factors that can come together to help add years to your life AND add quality to your years.

Healthy, moderate cardiovascular and strength training exercise – at least 40-minutes 3X each week – is good to keep your cardiovascular system operating, positive chemicals keeping you emotionally balanced, tuning your metabolism to operate optimally and keep your fat within a healthy range. 

Eating lots of green vegetables, fibre and foods with "good fats" and drinking water to keep hydrated will help your body, mind and energy at peak operating levels.

That leaves us with stress busting!

We've talked about Yoga and Meditation – where there are many proven studies demonstrating the effectiveness of these techniques on lowering blood pressure, improving how your body and mind work in the face of environmental and emotional stress.

In fact, the 5-part system for increasing your achievement, reducing procrastination and improving your self-confidence in Beyond Greatness combines all of these aspects into a system that anyone can use to drive fulfillment and achievement in all life areas including career, finances, relationships, health and wellness. 

Here's a study discussed in Healthy Living that finds creative activities such as writing, painting, music and acting can not only have beneficial results to immediate stress levels but can do wonders for adding years to out lives.  A good deal of this benefit comes from having control over your life, spending your time on activities you enjoy (or better yet, learning to enjoy more activities you are involved in) and taking time to explore the creative side of your brain.

I know many people that wait until they are in the final years of their life before they finally discover a creative passion that they had never tapped into earlier in their lives…what a shame since they not only missed out on so much fun and happiness but it seems, they may have also been able to extend their lives a few more years.

What about you…what creative activities have you always wanted to try or spend more time on? 

Have you wanted to write a book?

How about playing music?

Are you a budding artist?

Now it looks like you have even more reasons to explore your creative side…it may actually help you live longer!

Perhaps that euphoria and sense of clarity you get from a good workout doesn't just come from the increased production of seratonin that follows exercise, but is also the result of higher brain function – and what's even better, the impact seems to last.

A first caution on these findings is that the test was performed on kids – specifically 259 third and fifth graders – so whether the results can be extrapolated to apply to seniors (for example) remains to be seen. 

In addition – it's not entirely clear the methodology or other factors taken into account until the study is released fully later this year. 

Here are some other interesting findings on this topic from the last year or two –

• Other studies have demonstrated that new nerve cell growth can be stimulated in the brain with aerobic excercise
• There is support for re-energizing underperforming brain cells with rigorous exercise
• Tests have been done on other age groups suggesting that the link between excercise and brain function holds even at older ages which is positive in treating brain diseases such as alzheimer's and dimentia

This is an exciting time as research begins to delve deeper into the relationship finding that not only blood and oxygen to the brain helps with brain function when you exercise, but also that specific chemicals and proteins may be produced when you workout that are beneficial to your brain's functioning.

So, the next time you need motivation to stick with your workout or to start exercising, know that not only will it make you look great, gain more energy, become stronger and more self-confident – but it will also make you smarter and better able to cope with today's stressful environment.

Now, back to my workout!

Jeff