How to Be a Time Thief

Regardless of your goals, movement is what keeps you healthy and in shape. Want to tone up an area of your body? Move it more. Want to gain strength? Increase the challenge that you place on it during the movement. Want to lose weight? Burn more calories. These are not secrets held exclusively by a few; they are common knowledge. "I lack the time to exercise," is the excuse that I have heard more than any other; and that is exactly what it is, an excuse. Being healthier, looking better, making things easier, extending the quality of life are all benefits to movement on a consistent basis. Yet because most of us frame it as exercise, we keep that part of life compartmentalized in as small and convenient a box as we can manage.

Today, I would like to suggest that you can break out of that box. You can move every day and keep yourself healthy. You can even do it without trying to take another chunk out of your already busy schedule. Today I am going to teach you to be a time thief. Similar to multi-tasking, stealing time is to take something that you do already and to slightly modify both the action and your mindset for the purpose of accomplishing two things at once.

There are a few that basics that stand out. Park your car a little farther from the entrance when shopping. Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever it is an option. Take two stairs at a time for a larger range of motion and a greater challenge. Do you have to walk your dog? Make it a cardiovascular workout by walking with good form and a faster pace. Every time you stand up from your computer, you are doing a squat. Focus on the correct form every time you sit and stand, and you will have probably done twenty good squats by the time you are through with your day. That number can increase dramatically if you do five chair squats every time you want to stand while you are at home.

While sitting, spend a few minutes on posture every hour. Your core stabilizers could always be stronger. Stretch, do planks, or push-ups on every commercial break while watching television. Balance and hip rotation exercises are easily added to hair or tooth brushing. The games you play with your kids are another great time to be physically active, if you choose the right games for your level of fitness. Participate in sports with the children; when you actively participate while helping them practice, you'll end up in better shape.

Remember that any additional effort helps to strengthen the body and burn extra calories; but it is only beneficial if you correctly perform the motion. Proper mechanics make things easier, improper mechanics lead to injuries. Any pain or discomfort beyond soreness is your body's attempt to signal that you are using improper mechanics. Pay special attention to the motions that involve any joint that is symptomatic. Fix the motion to get relief from discomfort.

Finally, remember that stealing time is over and above whatever existing practice you already undertake. Do not steal time for more exercise if you are already feeling run down. Definitely do not steal time when the original task requires full concentration or care. What has been covered is just the tip of the iceberg, look at your daily routine with fresh eyes and I am sure you will innovate any number of exercise/task combinations.

Emphasize don't specialize

Hello everyone! I hope your summer is going well. It's been rather pleasant here in Chicago; not too hot, not too cold. It's nice that I haven't had to run first thing in the morning, which I usually end up doing when the heat becomes oppressive. Today I'd like to call attention to a common misstep in the workout world, for which I will use the blanket term of specialization. There are a lot of people that only do one kind of exercise; be it running or walking for distance, power-lifting, swimming, or yoga; to name a few. Regardless of your reason or type of specialization, overemphasis on one type of training will lead to an overall loss of capability and greatly increase the risk of repetitive strain injuries.

When you think about it, this is nothing new. Cross-training has even been around long enough to have received its very own marketing strategies and ad-campaigns (Cross-trainer shoes, Cross-fit gyms, etc.). Yet there are still a large percentage of specialists roaming through gyms, unsure of what to do when you take them off of their favorite machine. Any variation in your training routine will be beneficial; but it is better to be mindful of how you exercise, and choose which components you undertake on a given day to derive the most benefits from your continuing practice.

Let's do a quick review of the different aspects of training. Diet is the proper intake of calories and nutrients to support the body for the demands of life. There is no such thing as a perfect diet. What works best for one person will not necessarily work better for anyone else; there are different metabolic types and food intolerances/allergies, to name just two of the many variables that a registered dietitian must account for. Endurance, whether muscular or cardiovascular, is the ability to sustain movement. Strength is the ability to resist force (gravity, momentum, and inertia). Speed is the ability to move quickly. Power is the applied combination of speed and strength. Flexibility is the ability to move through a full range of motion. Balance is the ability to align opposing forces while maintaining structural integrity and control. Agility is the ability to stop, start, or change the direction of force and momentum.

Now, we can discuss modifications to your current routine. If you already cross-train: Great job, keep it up! Start to consider the components; do they complement each other or are they thrown together in a random manner? (ex. Speed and agility fit well, but if you add power to the mix you can hit a whole other level) For those of you who don't: Leave one of your specialty days alone. Take one day, and only do other forms of training. If you aren't sure what to do, send me an email; or talk to friends or a personal trainer. With the other 2-4 practice days, cut twenty minutes away from your focus and add in functional movements that challenge your body. If you decide to work on flexibility or endurance training, make sure that those get added at the end of the workout. The more dynamic and skilled the movement, the fresher you should be when you practice it.