Exercise for super busy people....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 7-14-2016

A.  Some people work 17 hour days.  And other people work plus commute plus have family responsibilities that can add up to nearly a 17 hour work day.

These are not folks that can take daily runs that take an hour or more to do.

These people cannot do two hour sessions at the gym.

And, of course many of them don’t exercise or see any way they can take the time to do so!

This post is about ways they can exercise anyway!

B.  Here’s why that’s essential to do:

1.  The good news is that regular, vigorous exercise is so beneficial that it’s almost unbelievable.

You are less likely to get heart disease and mental decline and more; you age much more slowly; you handle stress better; you stay strong and capable; and your chances of decades more life worth living go way up.  (You also need fewer drugs and doctor visits and health care costs.)

And, at their best, people who exercise are more mentally able and productive.  They sleep better and are more able to think on their feet and be resourceful.  One study even found that people are more productive on days they exercise!

2.  The bad news is that getting no exercise at all not only loses all those benefits, it’s as harmful as smoking heavily or eating bad foods in excess until you are obese.

Worse, unlike air to breathe or water to drink or food, there is no direct hunger for exercise.

In fact, since our ancestors had so much exercise built in to their lives and often had too little to eat, it feels good to rest and take it easy.

Plus working and getting to work and even many kinds of recreation today are done while sitting.

Last but not least, as you get older, without exercise your brain and muscles shrink and you tend to get fat on the same food you used to stay lean on.  And while you could have been as sharp as much younger people, you tend not to be.

C.  So exactly how do you exercise each week with so little time to do so?

First, you may not be someone who knows this.  But just a little bit of the right exercises gives you almost half of the benefits of an ideal exercise program.

So adding that little bit of exercise each week is a huge benefit.

It’s like putting $5 into the lotto and winning $5 million. Or like investing $1000 in a stock that winds up worth $100 million.

The best news is that this is totally doable!

The main three ways are these:

1.  We now know that short bursts of fast and vigorous cardio for sessions of 30 seconds to 2 minutes with rests or much slower exercise between bursts can be done in five to 10 minutes a session. 

Two to four of these a week can make you quite fit.  And, this is not as beneficial but MORE beneficial than hours of slower cardio.

That means that if you do four sets of 30 seconds each of fast abdominal work with brief rests in between or three sets of 30 seconds each of fast jump rope with brief rests in between and you do this even two or three times a week, you can have the benefits of regular exercise.

During the work week you may not be able to do more.  But even people working 17 hours a day can do this two or three morning a week because each session only takes 5 to 7 minutes!

(I do three of the abdominal four sets a week and one of the jump rope sets a week.

But even doing TWO of those each week in a total of 10 minutes for the 5 minutes each, is a small enough time bite that even someone working 17 hours a week can do it!)

2.  Strength training is important for both men and women to avoid gaining excess fat as they get older and to stay physically able.  Surprisingly it also boosts mental executive skills!

Slow rep strength training with weights that are a bit heavy for you where you gradually lift more over time can do this.

It even provides some cardio effects on the exercises that use the most weight.

Suppose it was possible to get that done in just ONE or two half hour sessions a week on just one week end day or one week end day and one weekday evening AND it was enough to be effective?

It is possible, in fact people all over the country do just that!

In a 20 minute exercise session that takes half an hour from when you arrive to when you leave The Perfect Workout provides exactly that.

(See: http://www.theperfectworkout.com/ )

They have quiet locations with the needed equipment and very skilled personal trainers to provide this.

(I used to go every Tuesday evening once a week. And many people did one session each weekend.  

Even people who work 17 hours a week can do one of these a week!)

3.  Separate from that, we now know that sitting too much each day is harmful.  Nor does standing all day work long term.  Dentists used to do that but got varicose veins and other problems; and now they work while sitting.

Unlike the brief cardio and strength training that are each doable now, there is not yet a good way to do moderate exercise comparable to walking at your desk that is affordable and fits existing desks that can be done while you work.

So far the existing small exercisers are too cheap and hard to use well; and things like walking desks tend to distract you from your work and cannot be used all day long; AND they are too big to get one for everyone and  fit their office AND far too expensive too.

But there will be a good way to do moderate exercise comparable to walking at your desk that is affordable and fits existing desks that can be done while you work! 

The need and the market are too big for this to keep not being available.

D.  Conclusion:

If all you can do is TWO 5 minute cardio sessions early in the morning two days a week on weekdays and one Perfect Workout session on Saturdays three or four weeks a month, by all means do that!

Once you do and have done it for a few weeks, consider a five or six or seven day plan.

(Given that each day you exercise even for a few minutes, you are more productive that day and sleep better the next night, even if you start with a 3 day a week plan, see if you can work up to  a five or six or seven day plan.)

Getting up at the exact same time each weekday is also proven to help you sleep enough better to be more productive.

To do a five or six or seven day plan, just do a 5 to 7 minute workout of some kind at the same time each morning. Make it early enough you get it in before the demands of the day begin. (Keeping a fast to enter in log also helps you keep going and track your exercises.)

One way to do a strength maintaining workout in even less than 5 minutes is to do one set of pushup and one set of full squats with only your bodyweight.

So, here’s an example of a plan:

Monday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets: one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

(Don’t overdo it at first and rest when you get out of breath.  If all you can do is ten before you get out of breath at first, that’s OK.  Just keep doing a bit more each week until you can do closer to 100 in 30 seconds.)

Tuesday, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.

(If you can’t do a full pushup at first, do pushups from your knees; and then before you get up hold the plank position as long as you can up to two minutes.  Even if you start with 3 pushups from your knees and doing the plank for 10 seconds, once you can do 20 pushups from your knees and the plank for two minutes, then do regular pushups.  By then you should be able to do two or more.

If you can’t do a full squat, find a way to hold something solid so you can pull yourself up if you need to do so and work up to 20 going as low as you can on each repetition at first.  Then do your twenty but each session go down a bit closer to a full squat.  Eventually, you will be able to do 20 full squats without holding on to anything.)

Wednesday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets:  one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

Thursday, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.

Friday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets:  one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

Saturday, if you can, go do a Perfect Workout session.  If not, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.