Wine Country CrossFit

We’re all given 24 hours in a day. And we usually get everything done that needs to get done, right? From working to eating and sleeping, we somehow get it done. We know that if we don’t work, we don’t get paid, and if we don’t eat and sleep — well, we don’t even want to go there!

When we consider the impact that exercise has on our health and well-being, it should be in the “need” category as well. But how many of us spend more time on social media or watching endless YouTube videos than going to the gym? With the right mindset and scheduling strategy, anyone can make exercise a regular part of their life, no matter how busy their schedule.

Why exercise?
When you truly understand the benefits of exercise, it’s hard not to schedule time for it. Not only does regular exercise keep your heart and blood vessels healthy, but it has also been found to lower the risk of cancer. Some studies show that walking briskly for even one to two hours a week (15 to 20 minutes a day) starts to decrease the chances of having a heart attack or stroke, developing diabetes, or dying prematurely. Plus, there’s nothing like it for improving your mood and decreasing anxiety and depression.

It’s also been proven that getting exercise can help you sleep better at night. Sleep, of course, is a crucial aspect of self-care, so it’s important to ensure you’re getting seven to nine hours every night. So, if your bedroom needs decluttering or you need a good set of blackout curtains to block out light pollution, consider making that investment. Also, don’t skimp on a good mattress; even if you’re operating on a tight budget, you can choose to go the bed-in-a-box route, which is affordable, comfortable, and easy to maneuver around the house.

How much exercise do you really need?
In order to maintain good health and fitness, our bodies need 1) aerobic activity, 2) strengthening exercises, and 3) flexibility training every week.

• The Department of Health and Human Services recommends we get 30 minutes of aerobic activity five days a week. It can be any activity that causes a noticeable increase in your heart rate. This is especially beneficial for disease prevention.
• The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that strength-training activities be done at least two days a week. We typically think of  lifting weights when we think of strength training, but it can actually be any form of exercise that uses body weight for resistance such as push-ups, pull-ups, Pilates, planks, or even heavy gardening such as digging or hoeing.
• As far as flexibility training, the American Heart Association recommends that two to three days per week, we stretch major muscle and tendon groups in sessions that are at least 10 minutes long.

When do you have time?  
Before you can schedule a workout plan that fits into your busy lifestyle, you need to take a serious look at how you currently spend your time. Add up the hours in a week that you sleep, eat, work, commute and do adulting (i.e., cooking, cleaning, grooming, errands, laundry, child care). (It helps to do this on an Excel spreadsheet.) Subtract this number from 168 (the number of hours in a week). This will give you the extra time you have each week.

After establishing how much extra time you have in a day, pick a few days and times of the week that appear best to you and enter it as an appointment on your schedule as a repeating appointment. This will reduce the risk of over-scheduling and help you visualize and mentally prepare for your workouts. Keep these appointments like you would any commitments.

Now what?
You’ve got the why and when down; now all that’s left is the what and where. We do what we like to do, so it’s up to you to find exercise that you like. Some people love working out in gyms or classroom settings; others prefer daily jogs in their neighborhood. Find what works best for you at your age, be it exercise videos, dance classes, yoga, Zumba, or lifting free weights at home. The most important thing is that you pick something you like and will do.

So you’ve decided how, when, and where you’re going to work out, and you’ve got it marked on your calendar. Congratulations on making your health and fitness a priority!