“To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise” Gene Tunney
The premise of this post is pretty simple. Physical activity is an unavoidable contributor to living a healthier and balanced life. In other words activity = longevity.
We’re not going to dive too deeply into the benefits of being physically active as these are well known. Put simply there are a myriad of emotional and physical benefits that come with physical activity. Think of the endorphin rush you get after a good run, the stress released after a session on the punching bag or the sense of calm you feel after a decent walk. More importantly, this is one very clear and undeniable element where the decisions you make today influence the quality of your life tomorrow and beyond.
Having an active life has been shown to be super effective in supporting longevity and reducing the risk of ill-health in the later years of life. Don’t believe us? Check out this article from the Washington Post where researchers found that even small amounts of exercise were highly associated with life span. The recommended amount of exercise per day is 30 minutes and this is backed by more organisations than we can list – a quick google search will give you a heap of articles to peruse.
For many of you we’re not telling anything you don’t know and the more challenging part of the equation are the invariable barriers that life puts in front of us to do the things we know are good for us.
So what exactly are those barriers?
Time
Finding time to be active on top of all the other demands on you can be really tough. In fact, for some it can feel impossible. Fortunately if you’ve been along the journey with us so far, you know that we’re not buying this. We both know that it’s not about being too busy, but a matter of priorities and that building this into your routine is not only possible but makes sticking to it permanently easier.
If this sounds foreign to you or you want a refresher, check out how to take time back in Time isn’t money; it’s life and how to introduce repeatable changes into your life in The Power of process.
Motivation
This can be a tough one. Having all the knowledge in the world of why we should do something doesn’t mean that we will.
If leading a better quality and longer life isn’t incentive enough, we’d suggest having a think about what is important to you and how being active can help. Some of the best reasons we can think of – most of which do or will drive us – are the self-confidence that comes with feeling good, the satisfaction that comes with pushing ourselves to beat our previous best, wanting to look good for our partner and wanting to set a good example for our children.
For some people, the intrinsic motivation may never be there and the best thing to do is remove as many barriers as possible and bundle it together with something else you enjoy. Like listening to music? Create a playlist with your favourite songs to listen to whilst you get out and about. Enjoy talking with your family and friends? Give them a call whilst going for a walk or better yet, take them with you. Enjoy reading and audio books aren’t your thing? You can even take your go to book with you always ensuring to keep an eye out for traffic.
Confidence
This can be a killer for some people who may not feel like physical activity is there thing or may not know how to get started. Assuming this isn’t just an excuse – in which case just do it – then we have some great news for you.
Firstly physical exercise doesn’t have to be running a marathon, playing a competitive sport or doing anything overly complex. If you’re in this category then your go to could be something as simple as walking regularly. Walking has been shown to produce terrific benefits to cardiovascular health whilst also being super low impact on the body.
If you’re seeking something a little different, there are more beginners’ classes to activities like yoga, Pilates and other aerobic-based classes than you can poke a stick at. Swimming is also one of the biggest bang-for-buck exercises you can do whilst also being relatively friendly on the body.
Long story short is that there’s a way we can all be active regardless of our situation and the barriers we face. Frankly, it’s too important and beneficial for your quality of life not to.
Action for the week:
- If finding time is an issue, check out the posts we’ve suggested and raise the priority of being active amongst your life. It can and should be higher.
- If motivation is a barrier, think about the things that are important in your life and how being active can help them. If this doesn’t get you jumping into your sneakers, then think about other activities you enjoy that you can bundle together to make this more appealing.
- If confidence is the problem, trust the fact that everybody started somewhere and your best bet is starting small. Try something until you enjoy it and then stick with it until your confidence builds
This post is designed to highlight the importance of being active and fundamentals that can help this become a part of your life. For some this might be really helpful and for others it might just reinforce the things you’re already doing. Either way we have no doubt that this will help you live a healthy and balanced life.
Because we love variety as much as the next person, we’re going to throw another curve ball in for our next post. Have you ever looked at your bank account and wondered where your money goes? We guarantee you’re not alone and we’re going to take a look at the exciting and glamorous world of budgeting finances.
We’d love to hear how you’ve gone with being more active or how you’ve been able to sustain this as part of your life, and any other comments or questions you have. Please reach out to us at any of our social media channels.