Episode Transcript

Do you hate exercising?

What would you do if I could tell you you can exercise without actually exercising? Well, that’s what we’re going to be discussing today. One of the biggest things, why people don’t exercise is they hate exercising. Let’s discuss some of the regular habits that so many of us already do that we’re not taking advantage of and putting into a routine to help improve our health. That’s the goal of exercising to work our cardiovascular system build up endurance, build muscle tone, you know, keep that bone density, and help our bodies move more efficiently so that we could live a more optimal life. We want to move well, move well, live well, and that’s what we’re going to be discussing today.

A lot of times, when we think of exercise, we think of going for a run, spending hours in the gym, boot camp-style classes, and if you’ve listened to any of my previous episodes, not all the time, are those the best things to do. If you love a boot camp-style class, you feel great after getting amazing results that’s awesome; keep going with what you’re doing, you’re finding what works for you. However, many of us keep forcing ourselves to do things we don’t enjoy or make us feel good, but we continue doing it because we think that’s healthy. Sometimes less is more; doing less can get us further if we’re doing less appropriately, and that’s the big thing lots of times; doing less doesn’t mean sitting on the couch eating bon-bons but what it can mean is, maybe only going for a 15-minute walk. A lot of times when we think about these walks, we think about huge one, two-hour walks and why they can be great for a lot of us that’s rather stressing on our bodies, especially when we’re already in a stress state, so we’re going to discuss some of my favorite ways to exercise without exercising,

I am a big outdoors person so my number one thing to exercise without exercising is kayaking, I love being in the water paddling, listening to the birds, it’s one of those ways that I can really decompress, there’s so much about nature, that is healthy, that is stress reducing and for me being out of the water being in a kayak is an excellent way of doing that hiking is another fantastic way and hiking can be really good because it helps build more of that endurance, you can get more of a cardio style workout when you’re hiking, when you’re going up a hill when you’re pushing a little further, that can give you those heart rates that you want to see now the exciting thing, if you ever got the chance to read the book Beyond training, I highly recommend it if you if you’re interested in exercise and stuff like that, it talks about the need for exercising our hearts at a variety of rates, if your always running your heart is exercising at that the same intensity and it causes scarring in the heart and that’s why so many heart attacks occur with runners. We need variety such as lifting weights, walking, swimming, yoga, kayaking so we are offering our body a variety of workouts.

Now that it’s summertime swimming is another great exercise, you know I think swimming a lot of times is underrated because we think of swimming as something nice to do in a pool. Now I know some people will go to the YMCA and do laps, which is probably one of the best forms of exercise. When we look at it because it’s low on the joints, it’s not putting pressure on the joints. So if you have joint issues mobility issues, this is an excellent way of moving. That’s one of the reasons why you see so many elderly programs doing Jazzercise in the water; it takes that pressure off, so getting in a pool, doing some laps
doing some weighted exercise in the pool is fantastic. We can fun in the pool playing volleyball with your kids or Marco Polo, and these are all just great ways of getting movement in working our body out without spending an enormous time in the gym.

Many of us take our dogs for a walk, or we know we should be taking our dogs for a walk; that is another way of just getting outside. When we talked from Reset Outdoors, Connor Moriarty drilled this point, and 15 minutes outside walking does so much for your mental health. So, if it’s doing a lot for your mental health, what’s it doing for your dog’s mental health? You know, it’s great to get outside and walk if it’s too hot do it earlier or later in the evening, but just getting outside and going for a walk, having a conversation, call your best friend, maybe go for a walk with your spouse. Still, it’s so important that we are getting outside and moving, and we’re also taking time to focus on our health. When we talk about other things, riding bicycles, you know, getting on a bike, going for a ride. My husband recently took my son; he got into the BMX bike thing, and they took him to one of these little pump tracks. My husband wanted to kind of bond with our son. He got his own BMX bike, and he went around the pump track once. My husband is pretty fit, he went around the pump track once, and he was totally out of breath. It’s because you’re using different muscles; that’s where that variety comes into play; my husband traditionally does a lot of weightlifting, so I’m not necessarily getting those cardio-type workouts that a BMX bike will do then have the resistance of going up the pump.

Skateboarding is huge right now; if you’re trying to get your active moving who are not generally active kids, skateboarding is the way to go. Skateboarding is trendy and a great workout. So what I want you to do is think of a few activities you love to do, don’t have to be in the gym, skateboarding, bike riding, or playing basketball. Hell, even having sex is a great activity. It’s a great way to increase that heart rate and have a ton of fun.

Golfing can be a great exercise; keep in mind when we’re talking about golfing, we are talking about actually golfing, not drinking, and riding in all kinds of golf carts. We want to make sure we’re walking a little bit, we’re not drinking more than we are walking, so there is that balance. You naturally like to do things that make you move your body; think about gardening.

Gardening is a great way to work out generally; there is a lot of pulling, digging, and squatting. Now I will say a lot of times we overdo it. Make sure that we’re gardening; we’re doing it with proper posture because we don’t want to be ruining our posture and causing ourselves back and knee pain. If we’re trying to do a whole day’s worth of gardening many times, you’ll find yourself sore; that’s probably too much.

Think about different activities that are different movements that you already enjoy doing. It was one of the things that in that book Beyond training they’re talking about is you want to exercise at all different intensities and get that variety, so think of five or six activities you like to do that you can include in your daily routine basis. Now, granted, you’re not going to be able to go paddling every day or go for a hike. Still, maybe you do that on the weekend on a Saturday if the weather’s nice, you can go paddling or hiking. Then throughout the week, perhaps you do some yoga you go for a walk, some days play basketball, go for a bike ride, get in that variety, and make sure that each day you’re moving about 30 minutes a day. If you can’t do 30 minutes, then do five minutes or 10 minutes or whatever you can do. Maybe you only have three minutes, so you’re going to take three minutes making some quick sprints. It can be simple, but you have to start moving your body regularly to ensure that you’re getting those benefits of exercising and keeping your bodies healthy and mobile.