No Excuses to Not Exercise

Good article & reminder - many people don’t exercise because they think they need to find this magic “hour” of time to do so (for the gym, etc). If you think of the classic break a big goal (hour) into bite size chunks on a daily basis, you can achieve this. In fact, you can get all the cardio you need from a 4 minute HIIT (high intensity interval exercises) routine, the best thing for your heart & your body, no need to go running long distances (hard on knees, hips, joints, ages you). An example of HIIT on a stationary bike - at a moderate resistance, spin as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then 10 seconds slow or rest, repeat that for 4 minutes (yes, you can get all the cardio your body needs in 4 minutes!).

The small choices during your day also add up - if there’s a choice between an elevator, escalator, moving walkway, take the stairs or walk - make it a habit, the automatic default choice. I do a lot of standing phone calls or stand during meetings or walk n’talk meetings (fresh air, exercise, see beautiful Vancouver, create community by running into people/connections & get your meeting in!). Being involved with the Heart & Stroke Foundation, I’ve suggested the idea of a National Walk n’Talk Day.

Another one I do (only if no one is in the elevator with me!) is a squat to ride the 20 floors of the elevator to my office floor. On the weekends & evenings around the house, I’ll just drop & do 10-20 push-ups a few times here & there off an incline (the stairs, the couch) vs horizontal on the ground. One last one, when sitting too long (car ride, airplane ride), I do what I call butt pushups to fire / work my glutes, one at a time, both a time, etc. I'd love to see people post any & all ideas of how they sneak in a few minutes of physical exercise / activity during their day.