Get Real
Having limited time to work out is the number one reason busy professionals say they don't exercise.
According to Sandra Ihlenfeld, Butler YMCA vice president of Healthy Living and Community Outreach, taking small steps in your exercise routine is the key to a healthy lifestyle. She said make a plan with exercise goals for each week, but have realistic goals.
“When setting goals make sure they're small, short, little ones, baby steps,” she said.
She suggested that one small step could be to keep an exercise schedule on a calendar.
“It's there (exercise) before the week starts so it's like I'm planning it. Then it's just about doing it,” she said. “Otherwise, Wednesday hits and you didn't do anything because it wasn't on the calendar.”
Although our jobs can keep us busy, she said the benefits of exercise outweigh the excuses we make for not exercising. Benefits can include reduced stress and depression, better sleep, increased energy levels and better overall mood, and reduced risk of disease.
“Pick one that's important to you and motivates you,” she said.
To know if you're getting the most benefit from your aerobic activity, Ihlenfeld suggests remembering the acronym, FITT, which stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type.
Frequency is how often you should exercise per week. Everyone should try to get in some type of aerobic activity five to seven days per week, while including resistance training two to three days per week, she said.
Intensity is how hard you should be working during an aerobic activity. She suggests still being able to talk during the activity, but not sing.
“Your body should be slightly winded, therefore it's going to be working a little higher than where it's comfortable. That's where the highest benefits are,” she said.
Time is how long you should workout during each aerobic activity. Thirty minutes is what is recommended, but Ihlenfeld said don't abandon the whole plan if you become busy with work and don't think you can spare the entire half-hour.
“You could get up in the morning and do 10 minutes before you go to work, 10 minutes at lunch, 10 minutes after work and you've got your 30 minutes in,” she said.
Type is what kind of aerobic activity you should be doing. Ihlenfeld suggests doing whatever activity you enjoy that keeps your body slightly winded.
“Think about what you like to do. That's the best exercise for you to do,” she said. “Find your thing, whatever your thing is.”
