Everyone has vices: alcohol, nicotine, junk food… some have murkier ones. Yours should be exercise.
You don’t need to give up the others, you don’t need to devote much time, energy or money into it, but you should exercise. It is a natural high, and leveller. If general health allows, every person should move, be active, get the rush. A rush you don’t come down from. Not having time is excusing your life away.
You could do 10mins of bodyweight HIIT in the living room before breakfast. Or a 10min walk.
Every individual has their own goals, reasons for working out. For many, to achieve these goals will require time, structured training, and making fitness a focus in their life. I am writing this to those who do not want or need that. To feel better, to get the natural high, just crack on and do something. Do micro workouts – you don’t need to spend more than 25mins in the gym. And you really could do a lot with 10 minutes. You can ignore a lot of what is written on this website; you need not even look up a training plan, and forget influencers. Do bodyweight squats. Heck- don’t even workout, every hour you are at home, get up and do a long set of bodyweight squats, 10-30+ reps. Move. Humans are better when not sedentary. You walk a dog because you have to – why do humans not need to be walked?
Here’s a challenge: stop reading, stand up, and do as many bodyweight squats as you can. Might be a handful, might be 50+. You’ll feel better within minutes. Do it often and you might notice another bonus — better appetite control. Being sedentary drives hunger even if your body doesn’t truly need food. Regular movement breaks lethargy, too.
The point is clear, and I don’t care if you don’t enjoy exercise or feel it is not for you. It matters not if you are older and feel you have missed the boat. Health permitting, exercise. Humans are animals and we need it.
There’s an argument all vices; alcohol, junk food, porn…. replicate our natural primal drives as humans- sex, eating to survive, exercise/physical activity- to hunt/flee danger/migrate/SURVIVE. Enjoying a drink, good food, experiencing life is the name of the game, for me. But I am adamant people would be generally happier and healthier and enjoy life more, if they leaned into our natural primal drives rather than excessing in modern replicants. There’s plenty of fun to be had there too.
Your life will improve if you move more on a consistent basis.
Ideas:
- That 10min HIIT workout with bodyweight exercises, it’s only 10mins, doesn’t require equipment & can be done anywhere. Surely you can fit it in?
- little walks, here and there- walk to local shop instead of drive – carry shopping back? (it can be a real workout)
- repeated moderate activity such as a set of a bodyweight exercise, on the hour. Walks throughout day. Find ways to kill two birds with one stone and tie moderate activity in with everyday life.
- consider and actively do/try huge range of fitness styles. Don’t feel stuck to a routine, just move. Ride your bike outside one day. A few extra walks here & there. A 10min HIIT workout if can fit it in (you definitely can, it’s 10 minutes). Stop by the gym on your way somewhere- no obligation to stay long- just hit a range of movements and grease the groove so to speak- a 20min micro workout? Run once a week?- There’s no hard and fast rule saying you’re either a runner running 3 days/ week or you’re not at all. You don’t have to stick to one fitness discipline. Walk to your local park and do the monkeybars/dead hangs from a bar.
The key is moving regularly and not being sedentary – it is not gritting out 3 x 45min gym workouts each week because you’ve been led to believe that is what you must do to be active. MOVE. Any form, any time, just keep it varied and consistent. Exercise doesn’t have to live in the box of long gym workouts.