How much of your day do you need to spend doing exercises?
The answer to that is (like every answer in fitness) it depends.
It depends on what you're already doing. And it depends on what your aim is. And it depends if the other parts of your lifestyle are working towards that goal or away from it.
If you're mostly inactive, or work in a job that mostly involves sitting, then as little as 5 minutes a day could be all you need to boost your energy levels, improve your heart and lung health, and help you get started with being more active. Lets break it down a bit...
1 day has 24 hours or 1,440 minutes.
You probably sleep for about 8 hours or 480 minutes.
That leaves 960 minutes remaining.
You probably work for about 8 hours or 480 minutes.
That leaves 480 minutes in the remainder of your day.
5 minutes is 1% of that remainder. 5 minutes is also about the same time as it takes to boil a kettle of water to make tea or coffee. Lifehack! caffeine activates the reward centres in the brain, so having a cuppa after exercise is a REALLY effective way to make it easier to exercise regularly)
Keep it simple, and start with movements you’re already familiar with…
If you sit down and stand up, that’s an exercise called a “Squat”.
If you push open a door, that’s a front of body press, as in “Pressup/Pushup”.
If you pull closed a window, that’s a single arm “Row”
If you reach up to put something on a high shelf, that’s an “Overhead Press”
Congratulations, now you know the key exercises for a full body workout.
Would you like more energy?
Would you like clearer skin?
Do you want to feel great?
If so, spend 1% of your day doing 5 minutes of these key exercises, and within a few days you’ll start to feel the benefits.
This may seem so simple that it sounds too good to be true, but it's simple for a reason. Simple gets done. Pick a time (or situation) and anchor this mini workout to it, so that while you're making that morning coffee (or whatever your anchor is) you've got your mini workout done.
Here's an example of a simple 5 minute workout using only 2 exercises.
I talk about using an anchor to build a healthy habit in this post.
I hope you find this post useful. As a matter of interest, if I were to organise a little 5 minute challenge for February (28 days of 5 minute workouts) would you join me? Would you encourage a friend to join?
If you're unsure about joining a 5 minute exercise challenge, what can i do to help you say yes? I'll show and explain how to modify every exercise so you can make it more or less challenging as you need to.
Lets all grow together!