Making Time for Fitness

Exercise is a very democratic part of life. No matter how thin, firm or healthy you are, you still need to do it, young and old alike. Without exercise, it’s just a matter of time before the pull of gravity takes its toll and turns muscle into flab and makes skin begin to sag.  So finding time for regular workouts is a true equalizer, whether in a gym or a pool, on a yoga mat or a bike, in front of a trainer or video monitor, everyone needs to fit it in.

Reality Check with a Clock and a Calendar

Like exercise, time is also a very democratic part of life. No matter how much money you earn, where you live or who you vote for, every single one of us gets the exact same number of hours in a day and days in a week. That fact pretty much wipes out any excuse not to exercise because you don’t have time, since everyone else who is getting it done has the same deal. Maybe a little a reality check on what you’re doing with your 24/7 will help you break a sweat!

You can start by looking at your clock and figuring out how much time you spend each day in these unavoidable activities:

Daily Activity             Total Time

Sleeping                         _____

Grooming                       _____

Eating                            _____

School                            _____

Work                              _____

Commuting                    _____

TOTAL:                           _____

Now subtract the total from the 24 hours in a day to see how much discretionary time you have in which to incorporate some exercise. Be aware, this might cut into your TV and computer time and may even require shorter naps, but as was already mentioned, there’s no use complaining—time is very democratic.

Next you need to look at a calendar, because what you’re seeking is at least three hours a week for exercise if you’re currently immobile. If you get up a move around occasionally, look for four hours a week. The time check you completed above does not give you a complete picture of all the uncommitted hours you have, let’s say on weekends, or Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, so look for some open blocks of time. It’s much easier to reserve a few hours here and few hours there for your workouts than 30 minute segments, though they still count. (And don’t forget to pad those blocks with whatever time you need to get there and back and clean yourself up afterwards.)

Finally, to be absolutely sure you get your three (or four) hours a week, block out four (or five) hours. The game plan is to start each week using all of the time allotted for exercise as it appears on your calendar, then if a really valid emergency keeps you from a scheduled work out, you’ve still got that extra hour reserved. But better yet, if a crisis doesn’t surface, you can go ahead and do the 4th (or 5 th) hour for extra credit!

Reshuffle Priorities for Maximum Adherence

Once you’ve plotted where you can spend three (or more) hours each week working on your strength, stamina and flexibility, take another look to be sure you haven’t relegated it to a part of your day/week where you’ll run into a lot of obstacles. For example, end of day exercise easily falls prey to unexpected demands on your time, like study group meetings or overtime at work, and the evil power of procrastination. Same for trying to do it all on the weekend. Exercising early in the day or week means you’ve got a better chance of getting it done before any new text messages arrive, and if they do, you’ll have to juggle some of the other discretionary things in your life, like watching Sex and the City reruns, when you start to run out of time.

It also helps to reframe how you view your exercise commitment if you really want to stick with it. One option is to think of it as a course requirement or job for which there are no unexcused absences. And did you know you can still take a fast walk or do crunches when you have a cold? Truth is, other than waking up with a broken ankle, there’s no reason why you can’t take a walk everyday.

To improve compliance with your exercise plan, don’t strive for perfect attendance based on the when, where and what you do. Keep your sights on the goal of time, and that will motivate you make the multiple trips up and down the stairs when doing your laundry instead of the elevator and doing lunges while you’re waiting for that laundry to dry.

Remember, the more often you do something, the more likely the behavior will become a habit, whether you like doing it or not. Think brushing your teeth. So if you thik of exercise like shaving your legs, it will help you create the habit of doing it, which is just what you need since you don’t get to stop doing it once you’ve graduated and have a full-time job and a household and/or family to manage, too. You also don’t get to stop brushing and shaving, but hopefully that’s already a habit.

Do What You Love

Another key to your success at making time for exercise will be if you do what you enjoy, as long as it burns calories, tones muscles and/or improves your range of motion.

There’s no law against making exercise fun, so why not mix the business of exercise with the pleasure of club dancing, playing Wii Rock Band or taking the old inline skates for a few laps around a track? Then, be prepared to change what you do so you don’t get  bored, since boredom is like a slow death when it comes to anything you’ve got to do for the rest of your life…

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Robyn Flipse, MS, RD

Author, Fighting the Freshman Fifteen

Available at www.FreshmanFifteenBook.com 

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