On exercise

We got to talking about exercise. One (perhaps the most common) reason given for not exercising is, "I don't have time." And it's a good excuse. Busy people, busy worlds. Jobs, family, commutes, recreation, household... the hours get carved away. Back when your job or your commute included activity, it was easier to get and stay fit. Now it's something you have to add to your life. It becomes, like anything else, a question of priority.

Going to the gym? I hate it. An hour working out at the gym becomes two hours out of my day, when you include driving there, parking, changing, showering, changing back, driving back. Lose two hours for an hour of exercise? No thanks. (There are other reasons I hate gyms, but I'm talking about time right now).

So I need something I can do at home, that doesn't require expensive equipment, and that gives me maximum return for minimum time. I've found several DVDs that seem to be doing really good things for me, both in increasing fitness, weight loss, and general health and well being.

My routine:

• Morning: about 15 minutes of breathing and stretching rites, that do great things for the abs. Steven Barnes put out a DVD on these.
• Mid-day: the Five Minute Miracle, five one-minute breathing exercises spread out through the day. I usually do these while I'm driving, or steeping my tea, or walking to meetings.
• Evening: walking, anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Ends up being a couple of miles. I don't pay close attention, just go exploring the neighborhood. Light aerobic exercise, warming up the muscles, mostly walking out the day's stresses.
• Evening: three times a week, Scott Sonnon's FlowFit. This fifteen minute routine is some phenomenally well designed overall strength and resistance training. It starts out simple and light, you can go as deep, as hard, as slow or fast as you want. Anybody, at any level of fitness, can start it and can get gradually more intense. The exercises are graduated to give you more challenge as you get more fit.
• Bedtime, every day: Scott Sonnon's IntuFlow. This is about 20 - 30 minutes of stretching, flexibility and balance exercises that seem to me to be extremely good for overall wellness and health. Like FlowFit, you can do them no matter how fit you are or aren't, and they are graduated so you can progress through them and remain challenged.

I usually add some martial arts practice to it. Still, it totals less than two hour-long TV shows.

As always, your mileage may vary.