Make It Quick And Easy To Establish An Exercise Habit

You’ve found some spare time during your day and you’re going to use it to exercise, right?  If your answer is, “Yes, absolutely, working out is awesome and I live to sweat,” then you may stop reading now and go hug a medicine ball; however, if that exercise habit continues to elude you, you’ve been somewhat consistent with workouts but need some intensity, or you are a competitive athlete in need of a cross-training option, let’s take it back to the beginning.

At the core of this workout is basic movement that you find somewhat enjoyable.  Let’s say you would rather chew nails than run on the treadmill – hint, do not make treadmill running your core activity.  There is no inherent rule that states that you must run, bike or otherwise stand on your head to lead a healthy lifestyle.  It is wonderful that your coworker has run ten marathons but this may not work for you.  If it does, lovely, but the important detail is that you are honest with yourself in identifying the kind of movement that you are most likely to perform without stopping for ten minutes.  Using the elliptical, kickboxing, jumping rope and freestyle break dancing all apply here as long as on a scale of 1-10, you are at an 8-9 in believing that your chosen activity will get you moving.

Beginner: If you are in the nascent stages of establishing an exercise habit, that ten minutes of your chosen activity may be all you need for now.  Three times a day, in the morning, afternoon and evening, perform your activity for ten minutes without stopping, for a total of thirty minutes.  Because you are just starting out and need to make exercising as easy and enjoyable to start with, nix the workout clothes and just have fun.  Sweating profusely is not a requirement here because you are trying to establish a healthy habit, so take it easy on yourself in the beginning.  Do your three, 10-minute core activity every day until you are bored or just get that indescribable feeling that your potential is being underutilized, then move on the intermediate level.

Intermediate: For someone who considers daily exercise a ‘kind-of’ habit, or who may be thinking of possibly participating in a race or other athletic event but doesn’t know how to take it up a notch, this level is for you.  All you need do is take the ‘beginner’ workout and add some intensity – just enough to make gradual progress and to avoid becoming overwhelmed.  You’ll sweat with this workout, so don your sweat-wicking workout attire and go for it.  Start with your core activity and add four-to-five, 1-minute intervals, followed by a 10-minute core activity segment:

• Warm up: 3-5 minutes of light movement

• 10 minutes core activity

• Four-to-five, 1-minute intervals, each followed by one minute of rest/recovery.  Examples of interval movements are squats, lunges, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, jumping rope, high knees, or preferably a combination of these movements.

• 10 minutes core activity

• Cool down: 3-5 minutes of light movement

Perform this workout 2-3 times a week.

Advanced: For the seasoned athlete, either in maintenance or competition mode, using this basic formula may just provide the workout you need to enhance your sport with cross-training:

• Warm-up: 3-5 minutes

• 10 minutes core activity

• 8-10, one-minute intervals with one-minute rest/recovery between intervals

• 10 minutes core activity

• 8-10 trunk movements, 1 minute each, no rest between exercises.   Include a combination of front-to-back, side-to-side, and rotational movements such as plank, traditional crunches, Russian twist and back extensions.

• 10 minutes core activity

• Cool down:  3-5 minutes

Perform this workout up to three times a week, depending upon your training schedule.

Establishing, maintaining and improving an exercise habit can be challenging, especially as temperatures rise in the summer-time and schedules change due to vacations and longer daylight hours.  Keeping it simple, quick and easy increases your odds that you’ll succeed in either becoming a regular exerciser or rise above a plateau in your current training; come fall, you may not only join your coworker in running the Portland marathon, you may just beat her to the finish line – or at least look like you could!