How many articles, commercials,
and blurbs do we see about what we can do “in just minutes a day?” Here’s the thing: many of us do not have minutes to
spend. I think most of us have
already focused in on our major time wasters (hello, cop shows; I am looking at
you…) and found ways to avoid them or multitask during them (watch pretend
science while we pedal our spin bikes!).
We have to set priorities.
In fitness, this means that we
recognize that we have only so much time to devote to it. We need to make sure that what we are
doing works. In my opinion this
means:
Interval training. It
builds cardio-respiratory fitness faster than steady pace work, it bumps up the
metabolism for the whole day, and it doesn’t take as long to get the benefits
(i.e., half an hour of intervals reaps about the same benefit as a whole hour
of non-interval training).
That leaves time for weight work, which builds muscle, which
builds up the metabolism and shapes the body.
And there is still time to stretch and roll and relax. We need to take a moment or two or
three to restore the body and the mind.
We all have more tension than we need. Stiffness is not fun.
Working out the kinks through myofascial release, flexibility work, and
some deep breathing pays off in reducing pain and increasing mental clarity.
And we should also probably take
two minutes to floss our teeth.
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