Busy Bee Health Essentials 2: The Importance of Exercise
The Importance of Exercise
A lot of busy bees don't really have the time to exercise for two hours every day. Often, you simply can't take the time off or wake up earlier or even justify why you should strain so heavily in the morning or evening when you've already given your all at work. That's understandable.
However exercise is a truly important component of a busy bee's health. Without exercise your body will suffer over time. The older you get, the more frequent and persistent this suffering becomes. What used to be a crick in your neck or stiff joints when you got up from your desk will turn into a constant nagging pain, and a few years after that, you'll feel stiff enough you won't be able to move without pain at all.
What is exercise?
Let's first take a brief look:
Is it the daily walking you do from the train station to the place you work at? It could be. Is it the few minutes you spend walking to the cafeteria instead of eating at your desk? It could add up to some exercise if combined with other small walks (such as when you're having a meeting on the phone).
Let's add to this what it's not:
You're not doing exercise if you sit at your desk all day and only stand up to go to the toilet. It's also not exercise if you get out of your car and hurry to the elevator to get to your floor. In the same way it's not exercise if you're strolling leisurely along the little canal (Dutch landscapes...) to the bakery and back to your workplace with a tasty (but likely unhealthy) treat.
So what is it then?
True exercise = getting your heart rate up for at least 10 minutes a day
Hint! This means your heart has to be pumping fast! Fast, fast, fast! And you probably won't be able to sustain this for more than two-three minutes at once (if even that). Which means your exercise period has to be long enough to get your pulse up in intervals until you've reached 10 Minutes. This takes time.
But you can still do it (and you ought to if you want to stay healthy throughout your life!).
Hard fact: The recommended amount of daily exercise is 30 minutes (You can easily google this if you don't believe me). 30 minutes are all right when it comes to time management - even if you only have a little bit of time here and there. Ten minutes after breakfast (perhaps taking your bike to the train instead of the bus). Ten minutes after lunch (your lunch break might be better spent walking rather than doing extra work or grazing the cafeteria for more food to eat) and ten minutes after dinner (a short walk with your family?) already add up to 30.
Why should you exercise at all?
Here's what can happen if you don't:
weight gain
a decrease in brain efficiency
heart disease
diabetes
slower blood transfer through your body = sluggish feeling during the day
low energy
The whole lifestyle attached to not doing exercise will ultimately make you less effective at your job and will make your life miserable whenever you have to take the stairs. Do you recognize the sleepiness-rush after a big meal? Then you'll understand why a lack of exercise decreases your body's effectiveness of handling insulin as well. Are you worried yet? Then let me tell you these are only parts of the scary doom prophecy. The lack of exercise will ultimately make you want to avoid mirrors as well.
On to more practical matters...
How can you do more exercise?
I get it. You're busy. You don't have time to set aside a chunk of 30 minutes to exercise.
BUT.
There are workarounds.
I've personally found the easiest way to get in more exercise (and almost painless exercise as well) is when you do something you enjoy (or have to do) at the same time. To me this is reading... I'll get on my stationary bike and at the same time read on my Kindle. I could also listen to an audio-book while taking a walk outside of biking outside.
Think about your own life.
What two tasks could you combine to make exercise easier on yourself? Have some e-mails to read? Why not do it while walking on your treadmill? Have a Skype conference to join? You can do it from anywhere. There is not requirement that tells you you have to sit at your desk. And if you're really pressed for time - How long is your lunch break? Could you eat a sandwich after a walk? During a walk? Before a walk? The usual lunch break is about 30 minutes to one hour. What if you ate only half of that time and walked around the blog the for the rest? Take a colleague with you as well. You can chat work or hobbies at the same time as working out! And they might even thank you for kicking their asses.
Tip! Do you think you could get a desk bike? Why not try a cycling marathon while you answer all those damned emails? I promise, it's easier than you think, and while you focus on emails, you won't even realize how much your legs hurt after a while!
As with nutrition exercise is important to keep your body running at top performance levels. A lack of exercise leads to an overall decrease of a.) the willingness to work out at all and b.) the ease with which you can take a walk. And it's not only your physical muscles that will atrophy. It's your mental muscles as well. The less exercise you get the less output in energy you'll have.
To sum up: exercise is important to renew your body and its functions.
It should be done daily. Thirty minutes. That's all it takes and you'll already be much healthier than all the other busy bees buzzing around. Don't worry about the heart-rate thing mentioned above too much. That'll come automatically if you try your best to exert yourself during the times you exercise (even if it's with your laptop in hand).
Do you think you can do it? Try it! (Caution! But don't overdo it. If my post's scared you into wanting to do three hours of exercise a day - if you even can find the time - forget it. We start small to preserve our willpower. We work up to something bigger. More on this in my next posts on The Important of Persistence and The Importance of Patience.)
And once you've tried a day of exercise? Post a comment down below! I'd love to hear what you think and how you incorporated exercise during your day. And also post a comment once you've read this and want to start getting active! I'll hound you in a month to see how you're doing if you subscribe to my mailing list.
Deal? (There's only one right answer to this.)
Deal!
WriteBot.
A lot of busy bees don't really have the time to exercise for two hours every day. Often, you simply can't take the time off or wake up earlier or even justify why you should strain so heavily in the morning or evening when you've already given your all at work. That's understandable.
However exercise is a truly important component of a busy bee's health. Without exercise your body will suffer over time. The older you get, the more frequent and persistent this suffering becomes. What used to be a crick in your neck or stiff joints when you got up from your desk will turn into a constant nagging pain, and a few years after that, you'll feel stiff enough you won't be able to move without pain at all.
What is exercise?
Let's first take a brief look:
Is it the daily walking you do from the train station to the place you work at? It could be. Is it the few minutes you spend walking to the cafeteria instead of eating at your desk? It could add up to some exercise if combined with other small walks (such as when you're having a meeting on the phone).
Let's add to this what it's not:
You're not doing exercise if you sit at your desk all day and only stand up to go to the toilet. It's also not exercise if you get out of your car and hurry to the elevator to get to your floor. In the same way it's not exercise if you're strolling leisurely along the little canal (Dutch landscapes...) to the bakery and back to your workplace with a tasty (but likely unhealthy) treat.
So what is it then?
True exercise = getting your heart rate up for at least 10 minutes a day
Hint! This means your heart has to be pumping fast! Fast, fast, fast! And you probably won't be able to sustain this for more than two-three minutes at once (if even that). Which means your exercise period has to be long enough to get your pulse up in intervals until you've reached 10 Minutes. This takes time.
But you can still do it (and you ought to if you want to stay healthy throughout your life!).
Hard fact: The recommended amount of daily exercise is 30 minutes (You can easily google this if you don't believe me). 30 minutes are all right when it comes to time management - even if you only have a little bit of time here and there. Ten minutes after breakfast (perhaps taking your bike to the train instead of the bus). Ten minutes after lunch (your lunch break might be better spent walking rather than doing extra work or grazing the cafeteria for more food to eat) and ten minutes after dinner (a short walk with your family?) already add up to 30.
Why should you exercise at all?
Here's what can happen if you don't:
weight gain
a decrease in brain efficiency
heart disease
diabetes
slower blood transfer through your body = sluggish feeling during the day
low energy
The whole lifestyle attached to not doing exercise will ultimately make you less effective at your job and will make your life miserable whenever you have to take the stairs. Do you recognize the sleepiness-rush after a big meal? Then you'll understand why a lack of exercise decreases your body's effectiveness of handling insulin as well. Are you worried yet? Then let me tell you these are only parts of the scary doom prophecy. The lack of exercise will ultimately make you want to avoid mirrors as well.
On to more practical matters...
How can you do more exercise?
I get it. You're busy. You don't have time to set aside a chunk of 30 minutes to exercise.
BUT.
There are workarounds.
I've personally found the easiest way to get in more exercise (and almost painless exercise as well) is when you do something you enjoy (or have to do) at the same time. To me this is reading... I'll get on my stationary bike and at the same time read on my Kindle. I could also listen to an audio-book while taking a walk outside of biking outside.
Think about your own life.
What two tasks could you combine to make exercise easier on yourself? Have some e-mails to read? Why not do it while walking on your treadmill? Have a Skype conference to join? You can do it from anywhere. There is not requirement that tells you you have to sit at your desk. And if you're really pressed for time - How long is your lunch break? Could you eat a sandwich after a walk? During a walk? Before a walk? The usual lunch break is about 30 minutes to one hour. What if you ate only half of that time and walked around the blog the for the rest? Take a colleague with you as well. You can chat work or hobbies at the same time as working out! And they might even thank you for kicking their asses.
Tip! Do you think you could get a desk bike? Why not try a cycling marathon while you answer all those damned emails? I promise, it's easier than you think, and while you focus on emails, you won't even realize how much your legs hurt after a while!
As with nutrition exercise is important to keep your body running at top performance levels. A lack of exercise leads to an overall decrease of a.) the willingness to work out at all and b.) the ease with which you can take a walk. And it's not only your physical muscles that will atrophy. It's your mental muscles as well. The less exercise you get the less output in energy you'll have.
To sum up: exercise is important to renew your body and its functions.
It should be done daily. Thirty minutes. That's all it takes and you'll already be much healthier than all the other busy bees buzzing around. Don't worry about the heart-rate thing mentioned above too much. That'll come automatically if you try your best to exert yourself during the times you exercise (even if it's with your laptop in hand).
Do you think you can do it? Try it! (Caution! But don't overdo it. If my post's scared you into wanting to do three hours of exercise a day - if you even can find the time - forget it. We start small to preserve our willpower. We work up to something bigger. More on this in my next posts on The Important of Persistence and The Importance of Patience.)
And once you've tried a day of exercise? Post a comment down below! I'd love to hear what you think and how you incorporated exercise during your day. And also post a comment once you've read this and want to start getting active! I'll hound you in a month to see how you're doing if you subscribe to my mailing list.
Deal? (There's only one right answer to this.)
Deal!
WriteBot.
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