My dog, Chewie and I enjoying our 15 minutes of physical activity, walking. (I’m the tall one.)
Sure, Andy Warhol once said, “In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes“, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.
15 minutes… twice a day… just five times a week. That’s it.
That’s only a total of 30 minutes a day… the time you need to find in your day to make great improvements to your health.
What changes would you like to make in your life?
Simply to be healthier or get in better shape? Have more personal confidence? Increase your likelihood of living longer? Improve your mood? Hold off depression and diseases? Look good in the mirror or to other people? Lower your blood pressure or cholesterol level? Sleep better? Be able to walk a flight of stairs without being winded? Take up new interests and meet new friends? Lose weight? Strengthen your bones? Or maybe feel good about yourself?
With physical activity, you can do any one of the above or even ALL of them.
I’ve talked about it before in the blog post “MOVE!” It’s so easy to get in better health. All you need to do is begin. Just get up and walk!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week can improve your health. And if you do vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, you only need to do half of that time a week! The CDC says “Aerobic activity or “cardio” gets you breathing harder and your heart beating faster.” That’s how you can tell you are getting the health benefits. Furthermore, the CDC even says that you still get the same payoffs if you break your 30 minutes a day into three, 10-minute chunks!
But I say, get it done in two, 15-minute chunks because it seems easier to find two times a day for exercise than three! Just get it out of the way quicker.
What physical activities can you do to begin?
Walk, swim, bike, mow the lawn, jog, play tennis, garden, go dancing, wash your car (by hand), rake, shovel snow (in the winter), do some yoga or pilates or even take your “best friend” for a walk (whether that be Gertrude or your dog!). If you’re at a loss, do a “Google Search” on “Types of physical activity” and you will get more than enough ideas. Anything to get your feet and heartbeat moving a little more.
Chewie, happy with his 15 minutes of physical activity!
My current favorite thing to do for physical activity is taking my dog, “Chewie,” for a walk. Sure, he has a whole fenced-in yard to run around in, but his walks are more social for him. He enjoys going to meet his buddy, “Biscuit,” as well as intently focus on his favorite hobby… smelling EVERY SINGLE TREE in our path. There AND back! (Like the smell on the trees changed in that 15 minutes!). Often, my son will even go on our 15 minute walk. With him at 16 years old, I’m lucky if I get 15 minutes a day of quality time with him, so I’ll take it! I also play frisbee with my son in a park nearly every Saturday or Sunday morning for a half-hour or hour, which gives me PLENTY of exercise chasing that crazy, flying disk!
So, (1) figure out what you want to get out of a healthier you, (2) what type of moderate or intense physical activity can get you there and (3) get out there! The weather is perfect these days.
What activities do you like to do? Share them with us all.
Of course, start out any new physical activity slowly and build yourself up over time. Also, consult a physician before you begin.
–Yours in fun fitness, Mike
FunFitTeam 