Buy Walking VideosQuestion of the Week: When Do You Exercise?
Sometimes WHEN you exercise is as important as what you do and for how long. Choosing your time carefully can keep your exercise routine a routine or kill it in the water:
What time of the day do you exercise?
How often do you exercise?
Does this work for you? Are you able to keep your exercise appointments or are you tempted to skip them?
What would be the best time for you to exercise and how often?
What have you done in the past? Did it work?
The Question of the Week is meant to be an Inner Workout for you. Find some time during the week and allow yourself to write the answers to the questions posted. You can write them on paper, on a word processor or here in the comments section. Whatever works for you as long as you do it.
Keep writing until you find out something about yourself that you didn’t know before. I’ve also heard that it works to keep writing until you cry, but that doesn’t really work for me. Whatever works for you. Just keep writing until it feels right.
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September 5th, 2006 at 7:48 am
These are all great questions that I long to be able to answer. And, whether it is an excuse or a true reason, I haven’t enough hours in the day to include activity. Yes, I read your posting on busting the excuses and that mine is near the top of the list. Here’s the deal. I have two kids, both under the age of three. I love them dearly and I can’t stand the idea of doing something for myself when I could be playing with them (i.e. when I’m not at work providing for them).
Sounds selfless – but I know better. I know it’s selfish. This is me not wanting to be uncomfortable…but the true selfish part of this is that I’m not living like I want my kids to learn to live. I’m not teaching them the things that they need to know about keeping themselves healthy. And, because of that, I won’t be healthy for them later.
Why do we do this to ourselves when we know…we KNOW…that we can prevent it?
Next year, I will be forty years old. I’ve had periods of my life when I’ve exercised more than others. When I did, I found it to be a perfect way of relieving stress. I was happy and I’m pretty sure I was on my way to being healthier. The one time when I can say I enjoyed it the most, I worked out (i.e. alternating weightlifting and aerobic) four days a week, about an hour each afternoon after work.
I enjoyed the social aspect of it. It relaxed me. I remember when I realized the stress relieving aspect of it. I had climbed on the treadmill and was getting through my routine when I turned my head a certain and my neck cracked. I hadn’t even known I was holding that stress until that moment. It was a very motivating realization.
Lately, I’ve been formulating in my head what I can do when the time I have. My wife doesn’t want one, but I want to buy a treadmill for the house and work out here. It’s what I have available to me. This way, I can get it done first thing in the morning or at night after the kids are asleep. I get to spend time with them and still show them how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Thanks for these QotDs. This one, especially, has really helped me consider what I’m going to do. I’d really like to see what other people have to write.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Funny you should ask…I just wrote about this on my blog a few days ago!
Basically, I exercise twice a day on weekdays, when I ride my bike, and what works about that is that the time doesn’t have to be taken away from anything else or considered separately. It just happens…at least while the weather is good.
In the past, I’ve taken aerobics classes/gone swimming at lunchtime and after work and done exercise at home early in the morning.
Getting to a gym is something of a hassle with my current schedule, and I was always pretty erratic about it even when it was convenient.
The early morning thing feels great, usually, but is just really, really difficult. (so not a morning person.) I want to go back to it, though, to get back into my stretching/strengthening.
Oh, and I just remembered that for a while I was taking lunchtime walks in the park next to work. Again, the problem of inertia.
Inertia kicks my ass most of the time. ::sigh::
September 6th, 2006 at 6:02 am
The when do I exercise is a question I ask myself everyday. When I make my to do list for the day I put exercise on the list. Just like with other do do items sometimes I don’t get to it, but I try to, and it does get put on the list everyday. Exercise is a priority to me, so more times than not I do get to it. The exact time of day for exercise changes depending on the day and what I have going on. So to answer the question….I exercise at all times of the day, whenever a small chunk of time opens up!
September 6th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Monica:
Since you exercise at different times of the day, have you found one time that you felt better about than others? I’ve heard a lot of theories that morning exercise is better than afternoon, etc. Any truth to those reports/rumors?
September 8th, 2006 at 6:27 am
Hi Ernie: To answer your question about which time of day exercise left me feeling better (since I exercise at all different times of the day). I have found that exercising in the early part of the day gives me more energy for the rest of the day. I’m not really sure how that works, you would think that the opposite would be true.
September 16th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Hi: Do to my stressful life I need to exercise. The situation is that I have a husband, 3 kids and a career. I know that the best time for me to run is early in the morning about 5:30am. But I am not a morning person. I have tried so many times to put set the alarm at 5am but I just can’t wake and If a don’t exercise in the morning the rest of the day is busy until 9am. How can I make it happen. Do you have any tips or hints to help me deal with this situation?
September 16th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Hi: Sorry, when I mentioned 9am it was 9pm.
“I just can’t wake up early in the morning and If a don’t exercise in the morning the rest of the day is busy until 9pm. How can I make it happen. Do you have any tips or hints to help me deal with this situation?