Five Minutes of Exercise
March 23, 2021 12 Comments
Do you have five minutes? I am assuming you are reading this so you have at least two minutes.
Raise your hand if your couch has a permanent butt print of your butt. I see a bunch of hands.
How could we have kept moving when our routines were completely upended by the pandemic? We were told to STAY HOME and if you went to a gym for exercise - it was closed.
I think there are many good reasons for a lack of movement during the last year, but I am going to advocate a shift since spring is here.
"Start with five minutes.”
That is what the guy at the top of this post is about to do. He is taking a break for a five minute walk.
Do you see that marathoner below?
I know for a fact that she started with five minutes of walking. (I don’t know that actually but it could be true!)
Most of us think that if we didn't go to the gym, sweat for an hour lifting strange objects or run like a gerbil - we didn't work out. And some of us, ahem, just give up THINKING about the gym and the gerbils.
You don’t have to end up running a marathon or a 5K - though there is a great app if you are interested - Couch to 5K.
You just need five minutes.
The guru who told me about five minutes is a personal trainer who was my pal. She was helping me get back on track after having spent too many hours in a library consuming M&M's and sitting on my butt.
Yes, I had stopped moving and I couldn't conceive of what it would take to get me in any sort of shape where I felt good again. So, five minutes.
I put on my watch, walked out my door, and walked for 2.5 minutes away from my house and then I walked 2.5 minutes back to my house. I committed to doing this every other day for a week.
Then, the next week I committed to 10 minutes (5 away and 5 back). The third week of walking included 15 minutes - and then I noticed something profound.
I felt like walking!
If you had asked me before I started my five minutes - "Do you want to walk today?" - I would have said, "No way, I want to sit on this couch and turn on the boob tube."
After a couple of weeks of doing just a WEE bit of exercise - I felt like getting off the couch. More importantly, if I took a day off from my walk - I missed it!
Strange, no?
If you have one of these, it does help to get you moving.
People with dogs are shown to get more exercise than people without them. I certainly have found that my dog has gotten me out in all weather when I would have remained on the couch.
A study was published on the effect of a wee bit of exercise on people in Taiwan (see 15 minutes of Daily Exercise Can Help).
The study found those who exercised just 15 minutes a day — or 90 minutes a week — cut their risk of death by 14 percent and extended their life expectancy by three years compared with those who did no exercise.
Yes, I want three more years of life. And, yes, I can find 90 minutes a week for exercise!
Please share your thoughts on how to get moving. Thanks!!
Other posts you might like:
Millions Have Moved From This Couch to Become 5K Distance Runners
Isn’t that couch cute? I would love to sit on it for a while....
How Much Exercise Do You Need for a Longer Life?
Some people have no problem with exercise. They get up, run, walk, go to the gym, and move seemingly without effort....
12 Comments:
Kim Kreitz
Andy D
Eileen G
Dolores
Wendy
Karen
Jacki
laxmom16
Mary
Monique
Dawn
Karen