With work, our families, and all of the things we do in a day, exercise most often does not make it onto our daily to do lists. It should because exercise helps us to maintain healthy, strong minds and bodies that are more resistant to physical and emotional illnesses and diseases. Many of us are quick to offer excuses like we do not have enough time or we are too tired from all that we do, to explain why we do not regularly exercise. But the truth of the matter is that many of us have become complacent about taking responsibility for our own physical and emotional fitness and health. We blame our jobs, duty to our family, financial obligations, and many other circumstances in our lives for why we do not take care of ourselves like we know we should.
It is time to step up to the responsibility of taking care of your fitness and health before it is too late Before a serious illness or disease that may have been avoided because of the health protection of exercise strikes and the course of your life is drastically changed. Taking full responsibility for your own fitness and health means that not getting in at least some form of exercise at least three days a week is unacceptable.
There are multitudes of ways in which to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Walk or ride your bike to work. If walking or cycling to work is not possible, park your vehicle several blocks from the office and walk the rest of the way. Bypass elevators and use the stairs as often as possible. Take a brisk walk or jog around the park at lunchtime. Get up from your desk during your work day and do some calisthenics to get your blood flowing properly through your body. Purchase a dura disc for your office chair which will allow you to exercise as you do your work, or keep some exercise stretch bands in the bottom drawer of your desk for a fast ten minute stretch that will help power you through the rest of your day. Keep a rolled up yoga mat in the corner of your office and pull it out for flexibility strengthening and stress decompressing exercises when you have twenty minutes or even less down time while at work. Finally consider joining your company sponsored health and wellness programs and utilize the company gym often, if there is one.
If you work from home in a business or in caring for your children, you can find plenty of opportunities to get in exercise. Take regular breaks from your work and perform ten minute exercise sessions like aerobics, jump rope, jogging or running around the block, working with dumbbells and weight lifting, schedule one or two morning or afternoon gym workouts a week, pop an exercise DVD in and get in a workout while the kids nap or you are waiting for a fax to arrive. Speaking of kids, if your work is taking care of them, get them involved in exercising for their fitness and health too. Make it fun. Have races across the yard, toss a ball around, have water balloon fights, build an obstacle course in the backyard and get everybody moving and competing, go for a swim, hike, or bike ride through the neighborhood. Be just as creative in finding exercises to do and the time to do them every day, as you were in coming up with creative excuses for not exercising before.
Step up to the responsibility you owe to yourself to be as fit and healthy as possible. Do it before it is too late and you are only left with wishing you had taken better care of yourself. Getting in at least some exercise every day is an important part of taking good care of yourself, and you deserve nothing less than that. I promise that with daily exercise your fitness, health, and the experience of living will all be the better for it.
