Movement for Fitness
Movement is essential for the survival of practically all animals. Only us humans have evolved to a point where we don’t need to move for basic survival. This has not only led to a myriad of health and physical problems, but also segregated between fit and ‘unfit people’. But as I wrote in my book “Work It Out Without A Workout’, I however prefer to differentiate between ‘Getting Fit’ and “Wanting Fit’ people. Getting Fit people find time to workout as fitness is high priority. Their daily routine revolves around workouts and they make a conscious effort to accomplish their goals. The members of the Wanting Fit group spend time on fitness only if there’s any left after doing other important things, which is almost never, hence the name of the group.
I have a revelation for this second group: Exercising doesn’t only mean sweating it out or spending a few hours at the gym. What if I tell you that any activity that uses the physical body is actually exercise? Everything that requires physical effort is recognized by the body as an exercise and will
therefore be beneficial and give you results. You do not take time out specially instead you can exercise anywhere, anytime, without disrupting your daily routine and also get results.
What’s more, you can also spend time with your family, friends, and also go out. People who use their bodies throughout the day, in any form of physical activity, are consistently able to maintain a good figure vis-à-vis those who don’t do much, apart from going to the gym a few times a week.
To understand this better let’s do a simple calculation. If for a twelve hour day, you take out five minutes of every ninety minutes, you’d end up with forty minutes of exercising time. You can utilize this time to exercise by simply adding ten to twenty minutes of morning routine. What it means practically is depending on your needs, you could be doing one and a half hour hours of stretching,
strengthening, and relaxing, with the equivalent of an hour of walking, covered by 5000 steps. This process will give you visible results as you’ll be doing almost two hours of physical activity everyday.
The best part is that you can fit it into your ongoing schedule without making any drastic modifications. There are many exercises you can do while traveling in the car, obviously the exercises differ depending on who is driving, but you are only limited by your own imagination. For example if you happen to be driving, When it comes to toning up the body and developing strength, make use of the steering wheel. You can push, pull, lift, and press it to. This can be done by holding your hands on top, bottom, or work on the sides of the steering wheel—your muscles. You can build up a few exercises without moving at all. These are isometric exercises which help you create muscle tension without changing the length of the muscles. If you happen to be in the back seat, you
can practice Triceps Pumps/lifts Sit down and place your hands on the seat, close to your hips. Feet should be at hip width apart. Inhale and as you exhale, push the arms into the seat and lift your bottom off the seat. If you are on a call in office, pace around as you answer it if you don’t need to refer to notes. Never miss an opportunity to take the stairs. Need a glass of water? Get it yourself, all of these small movements add up. If you happen to be in the Metro you can use the use space available to little squats or pull-ups using the handles. I always end up embarrassing my daughter when we go out, even if I am in a Sari, I enter or exit the part doing little lunges or squats. All you need is a change in perspective how you perceive exercise and you can bring a sea change in your
fitness.
