BODY, MIND, and BALANCE
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No More Excuses!Featured in www.transitiontimes.com July 2003I consider myself a tolerant person, respectful of the views and opinions that others have, even when radically different from my own. It is part of my job as a psychologist and professor. However, there is one view that really irks me. It is the one where people tell me that they wish that they could exercise, but just could not find the time. This really pulled at me when I saw one of my former students in a health store looking for a pill that would help her lose weight. I kindly suggested to her that it was a beautiful day for a nice walk, which would increase her metabolism and burn some calories in the process. No time was the quick reply. I proceeded to watch her for over thirty minutes rummaging around for that quick fix while there were ample opportunities (and free too!) that she could have utilized in that time. I don’t buy into the no time to exercise excuse for the vast majority of the population that regularly uses it. Unless the laws of physics have changed, we all have exactly the same amount of time every day! I think that everyone could spend one percent of their daily life exercising, which breaks down to a measly fifteen minutes a day. I know what the objectors are saying about their lives being too busy, their kids taking up too much time, their work hours being too many and intense, and that it is harder to exercise as one gets older. Now, maybe they are not motivated to exercise or do not have good organizational skills to plan their time to exercise which is fine and I can respect that. However, please do not tell me that you do not have the time. Below, I have provided a brief description of four people that I know who manage to find the time to exercise on a daily basis, despite their busy lifestyles. I use them as examples of people who make the time, despite their many other responsibilities. For those of you who already exercise, these people will most likely resonate with you. For those of you that currently do not, perhaps these people will motivate you to rethink your no time excuse and to attempt to fit in those fifteen minutes a day. David is my age, early thirties, and has been active in fitness and sports since he was a little kid trying to keep up with his parents on their daily runs. Since graduating from college ten years ago, David attended medical school, did a five year residency where he averaged five to six hours of sleep a night as he worked up to sixty plus hours a week, moved cross country with his wife (also a doctor) and young daughter for a one year fellowship where he worked longer hours than most in the work world, and recently moved back to the east coast to start in a group practice where he works in three different hospitals with kid number two along the way. Consistently overworked and often sleep deprived during this period, he ran three times a week for an hour at a time, completed the Philadelphia Marathon, and earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He also stretches daily and swims once a week. He is one of the busiest people that I know and he finds the time to exercise on a consistent basis. Frank is in his early fifties, but could easily pass for forty. He is an attorney who commutes to work daily, teaches part-time at a local college, has a wife (who also works) and two teenagers, and volunteers with many organizations on a consistent basis year round. He also exercises five to fifteen hours a week, depending on the triathlon season. He is a multiple Ironman finisher, plays a mean game of tennis, goes kayaking during the summer months, is a veteran camper, and knows his way pretty well around the gym. It is probably not coincidental that his children are athletes themselves. All of this may sound like a busy schedule and it is! However, he still manages to find the time to exercise on a consistent basis. Mary is in her late fifties, but still has a youthful, radiant look to her. She is a college professor and area coordinator and has the challenge of scheduling over a hundred courses each semester. This means that in addition to teaching five courses a semester and advising students and participating on search committees, she still has to find full and part time faculty to staff all those courses. This usually pushes her weekly work time past the standard forty hours. And that is just her first job! She is also a psychologist who sees patients which adds some more hours into the mix. However, Mary is a consistent runner and also has a regular strength training regiment. She has been doing this routine for years. She did all this while raising two children, working more than forty (often fifty) hours a week at the college, and working several more hours seeing patients. All through her numerous responsibilities, Mary still found the time to train. It is probably also another reason that she looks much younger than her calendar age and is in better cardiovascular condition than many off her students which are often decades younger than her. Despite Mary’s busy schedule, she finds the time to exercise on a consistent basis. My grandfather is the last person that I would like to mention. He is eighty-six years old and an old one at that! He can’t see much these days, he wears a hearing aid, and he uses a walker to help maintain his balance. Oh, he is also missing half a lung. He is an old man and has no problem telling anyone that. Yet, he drags his worn down body to the pool six days a week to swim and walk in the water for at least half an hour. When he is swimming he is smiling. He admits that it is hard to get going, but once going he enjoys it as he often says that it is the best part of his day. Before he retired, he use to push the work hours to sixty a week, including traveling from Harrisburg and back at least once a week. He managed to find the time to consistently exercise then and still does now. The point to all of this is that you have the same amount of time that David, Frank, Mary, and my grandfather. Most of you probably have more free time than they do! When you think about spending one percent of your daily life (fifteen minutes a day) to exercise, it does not seem like much. I think that the vast majority of us could find the time to exercise. Furthermore, exercising might also prevent you from spending extra time in other places such as doctor’s offices and hospitals by preventing various types of cardiovascular diseases. You might even find that you enjoy the time spent exercising. It might even become your favorite time of the day! When it comes down to it, fifteen minutes a day sounds like a pretty good exchange for better physical health, improved cognitive functioning, and a more positive attitude in life. The choice is yours! Cory Bank, Ph.D. Founder of The Abington Center For Therapy And Sports Psychology and www.powerfulathlete.com |
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Created: 12/24/05 |
