Get on Track for Exercise: New Monthly Series Designed to Help You Lose the Excuses, Find Motivation

By Tracy Wheeler, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Jan. 2–Too old. Too heavy. Too busy.

Sore knees. Sore back. Sore shoulders.

No time. No motivation. No decent weather.

Everyone has excuses. Everyone can find reasons to justify why they skip abdominal crunches in favor of potato chip crunching or why they watch TV instead of watching their weight.

We’re here to help you lose those excuses.

Unlike most New Year’s exercise stories, though, this will not be a one-time motivation booster that will just sputter and die a few weeks later. Instead, today’s article will be the first in a yearlong monthly series — The Fitness Fight — focusing on strategies to clear the obstacles that are keeping you from shaping up.

We’ll also be offering an Exercise of the Month, under the direction of Dr. Troy Smurawa, a sports medicine specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital. Each month, www.ohio.com will run video clips of the exercise, with beginner, intermediate and advanced demonstrations.

Ease into it

Haven’t even thought about a push-up in the past 20 years? That’s OK. Gradually retraining your muscles may not be easy, but it is doable. Your first set of push-ups may last only two or three repetitions. Your first walking workout may last only five minutes. But if you’re up to five push-ups and 10-minute walks a few weeks later and eight push-ups and 15-minute walks a few weeks after that, you’ll be headed in the right direction.

“Instead of going to work on losing 100 pounds, work on losing that first pound,” said Scott Crabiell, the personal training coordinator at the Akron General Health & Wellness Center West. “When you introduce physical activity, it’s enough to bring about change. Start with five minutes. But you can’t stay there forever.”

The point is, don’t be intimidated. Starting slow is fine; just start.

Considering that two out of every three American adults are overweight, something is keeping us from getting as much physical activity as we should.

Make the time

For Smurawa and Crabiell, there’s no question what the No. 1 exercise-avoidance excuse is — lack of time.

Actually, Crabiell would add “alleged” or “supposed” in front of that phrase.

As a personal trainer, he constantly hears clients say, “I didn’t have time,” when he asks about their recent workout history. “I always correct them and say, ‘No, you didn’t choose to make the time,’ and they agree.”

“It’s safe to say we’re all busy people. It takes time to exercise and that’s time not doing something else on your to-do list,” Crabiell said. “If we don’t intentionally schedule exercise time, it doesn’t get done… because too many other things are scheduled.

“If it’s important to you to feel your best and look your best, you’ve got to make time.”

Break it down

It may not require as much time as you think.

“People think, ‘Well, if I have to exercise for 30 minutes or an hour every day, I just don’t have time for that,’ ” Smurawa said.

But you don’t need a full 30-minute or one-hour block of time, he said. If your goal is 30 minutes a day, three 10-minute sessions of moderately intense exercise have been proven to be just as beneficial. (As a general guide, moderate-intensity activity makes you breathe harder, but not so hard that you can’t carry on a conversation.) If your goal is an hour, shoot for three 20-minute sessions or four 15-minute sessions.

“Break it up and make some time to exercise,” Smurawa said. “That’s a very effective way to increase your activity. “

Use your coffee break or lunch hour. Or, if you’re busy carting kids to and from basketball, soccer and other events, use the down time to walk around the perimeter of the field or walk up and down the bleachers.

Smurawa suggests finding alternatives to traditional views of exercise. It doesn’t have to be jogging or biking or lifting weights. Consider things that fit into your daily life, like using a push mower instead of a riding mower or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you just have to see your favorite TV show now, record it and watch it later, so you can fast-forward through the commercials, saving about 20 minutes you could use for exercise.

“All you have to do is increase your heart rate,” he said. “That improves your cardiovascular fitness.”

At some point, though, the routine will have to be more than an occasional walk up the stairs coming back from lunch — which takes us back to Crabiell’s initial point of making exercise a scheduled priority, rather than a chance encounter.

“We can try to find cutesy ways to add daily activity to our lives,” Crabiell said, “but if we’re really going to get real here, you need to make exercise a part of your daily life.”

Just a little can go a long way.

A small study at the University of California Los Angeles put 11 obese men on a very-low-fat, high-fiber diet and daily 45- to 60-minute walks on a treadmill. Within three weeks, the seven men who previously had high blood pressure now had normal blood pressure, and the entire group reduced their cholesterol levels by an average of 19 percent. None of the men lost much weight, but their insulin levels dropped 46 percent and free radicals dropped 28 percent, both of which are associated with heart disease.

Keep that in mind when you’re watching the scale. Don’t be too discouraged if you’re not losing weight, because it’s very likely you’re making significant gains that can’t be seen through the number on a scale.

Now get out there!

So now that we’ve convinced you that you can find the time to exercise, here are some tips to get you started:

–Ask yourself this basic question: “What exactly is keeping me from being as active as I should be?” And answer honestly. Are you glued to the TV? Are your work hours too long? Do you think you’re too old or too out-of-shape for anything to make a difference? Most excuses can be overcome, but you can’t put yourself on the right path until you figure out what’s keeping you on the sidelines.

–Know your goal. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to be able to play with the grandkids without feeling the effects for days? Do you want to improve your heart health? Do you just want to feel better?

Getting started without a goal in mind can lead to failure. After all, if you don’t have a reason to exercise, why would you do it?

Track your progress

The National Institutes of Health’s Weight-control Information Network suggests setting up short-term goals, like walking 10 minutes a day, three days a week, then trying to build up to at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week — or better yet, every day of the week. Track your progress by writing down your goals and what you have done each day, including the type of activity and how long you spent doing it. Seeing your progress in black-and-white can help keep you motivated.

–Talk to your doctor, if necessary. WIN suggests that men older than 40 and women older than 50 talk with their doctors before starting a vigorous exercise program, as well as those with chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis or obesity. However, WIN points out, you don’t need to see a doctor before starting an activity like walking.

Next, WIN suggests sitting down and drawing a road map to get you where you want to go by putting the following information in writing:

–List the activities you would like to do, such as walking, energetic yard work or housework, joining a sports league, exercising with a video, dancing, swimming, bicycling or taking a class at a fitness or community center. Think about sports or other activities that you enjoyed doing when you were younger. Could you enjoy one of these activities again?

–List the days and times you could do each activity on your list, such as first thing in the morning, during lunch break from work, after dinner, or on Saturday afternoon. Look at your calendar or planner to find the days and times that work best.

–List the people — your spouse, sibling, parent, or friends — who can support your efforts to become physically active. Give them ideas about how they could be supportive, like offering encouraging words, watching your kids, or working out with you.

–Set a date when you will start getting active. The date might be the first meeting of an exercise class you have signed up for, or a date you will meet a friend for a walk. Write the date on your calendar. Then stick to it. Before you know it, physical activity will become a regular part of your life.

Tracy Wheeler can be reached at 330-996-3721 or tawheeler@thebeaconjournal.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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