30 Minutes Per Day

If you and I are friends on Facebook, you may have seen that I just did a “30 minutes of exercise per day for the month of May” challenge.

I needed a good old-fashioned kick in the pants to get myself going with exercise, and the way I chose to receive the kicking was via accountability through social media. Gratefully, some of you joined in and I am immeasurably thankful to you. YOU made this thing a “go” for me. YOU made it real. YOU brought the encouragement and the accountability I needed. And I hope I did the same for you. We’re all in this thing called life together. We might as well cheer each other on.

So… why? Why did I deem exercise important enough to take to social media? We all vaguely know that exercise is good for us. Managing stress, heart health, maybe a trimmer waistline (amen).  But my reasons reached far beyond.

In no particular order, here are a few reasons why exercise is important:

• Helps with weight management.
• Promotes better sleep. Who among us wouldn’t appreciate that?
• Increases energy. This may seem counterintuitive (don’t you feel tired after exercising?), but it’s true in the long term.
• Increases stamina… busy gals like us need this to carry out our duties and goals.
• Breast cancer risk reduction. Women who exercise for one hour, 4 days per week, reduce their breast cancer risk by at least 37 percent (see The Wisdom of Menopause, by Christiane Northrup, page 449). Thirty-freaking-seven percent.
• Risk reduction for dementia and Alzheimer’s. Overall improvement in brain health.
• Strengthens us against cardiovascular disease. This is a biggie for women and men.
• Reduces risk of stroke.
• Lessens incidence and severity of arthritis.
• Calms depression and anxiety. Exercise changes brain chemistry by increasing beta endorphins. That’s the feel good chemical in the brain. Ah, this beats anti-depression medication and its attendant risks.
• Stimulates healthy bowel function, which aids in the removal of toxins.
• Reduction of premenstrual issues.
• Reduction of frequency and duration of hot flashes.
• Strengthens bones, which is important as we age and bones can tend to thin and become brittle.
• Increases skin health. Thank you, I’ll take that.
• Increases libido.  This old married lady appreciates this particular side effect.

Our culture tends to have an all-or-nothing attitude about many things, including exercise.  Marathons, triathlons, extreme races… all these can be fun and certainly have their place (goals are great)… go for it! But too much prolonged training is very stressful on the body. Make sure you give yourself ample breaks between super demanding endeavors.

In his fabulous book, The Blue Zones, author Dan Buettner shares some of the common lifestyle habits that those people in the world with the longest life span have.  One of them is gentle, natural exercise, such as walking, gardening, dancing, cycling for easy transportation. There is no mention of extreme ultra sports. Please, don’t fall prey to the notion that for exercise to “count” it has to be hard.

(By the way, if you haven’t read my blog about the “Fit and Happy Grannies” I encountered in China, you might enjoy the inspiration it brings. Seriously. These older women in China are amazing!)

You may be wondering what type of exercise is most beneficial. It turns out, the ones you’ll actually do are the best. Cardio? Strength? Balance? Stretching?

The answer is: yes. All these things make for a healthy body. Aim for getting some form of exercise every day. About 30 minutes per day is a great place to start. Mix it up with cardio, strength, balance and stretching. Walk the dog. Hike with a friend. Create your own home gym with simple hand weights. Join karate. Take a class at the gym or via YouTube. Jog a 5K or 10K in your community… what a great way to meet new friends. Swim. Do a few minutes of body weight exercise in the middle of the day. Bike to the grocery store (see my blog about that here) – or to your nearby local glacier, like my friends in Alaska do.  Do your own yard work. Dance (you know you’ve still got it, girl). Chop wood for your woodstove. Golf (skip the cart). Take the stairs. Park farther away. Bike to work. Do some stretching first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.

The point is, get more movement. Exercise is good for so many things. We girls need to take care of ourselves for the long term. Really, it’s one of the best prescriptions we can give ourselves. And we must! Literally, our very lives depend on it.

“30 minutes per day for the month of May” was just what I needed to get going on this habit of exercise once again. Let the streak continue!

What about you?

What are some of your favorite ways to incorporate more movement into your life?

I work with women in midlife, helping them drop the pounds and gain the energy, lose the stress and find themselves.

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