The most common excuse to not work out is: I don’t have enough time to work out.
Oh really?
Let’s say the average person sleeps 7 hours a night.
That means you’re awake for 17 hours.
That’s 1020 minutes.
Let’s call 40 minutes a good workout length.
(It could be shorter. Could be longer.)
That 40 minutes equates to .039% of your waking hours.
That’s basically .04 cents on your dollar.
UNICEF is asking for .50 a day. I’m asking for .04.
Yes you can add .02 or .03 cents for getting dressed and getting to the gym. I’m still not buying it.
Conquering the most common excuse to work out
You probably have valid excuses. I’m terrified of the weight room (been there). I fear judgement (felt it). I don’t know where to start (Don’t I know). I’ve felt the same way. I’m not judging. I’m just here to point out that:
Someone with even more excuses set your goal and got it done.
What’s stopping you?
It ain’t time.
“There’s no such thing as free time. No such thing as spare time. No such thing as down time. Only Lifetime. Go!”- Henry Rollins
No more excuses
I did an experiment years ago, i.e. I distilled my workouts down to 5 basic moves. I did these moves 5 days a week, for 5 sets of 5 reps. All in all it took me about 15-25 minutes per day to complete the workout.
The experiment, all things considered, was a great success.
I leaned out a little, and gained a small amount of muscle. The commitment, as stated above, was very minimal. The workouts were short, hassle free, and, as can be seen, I got a result. I could motivate to do the 5 exercises even on long days, because the commitment was miniscule.
Exercise Snacks
Exercise snacks don’t refer to healthy foods and vegetables, but rather short snack sized bursts of exercise. The 5×5 workout qualifies as an exercise snack. The research on these snack sized exercise portions is encouraging. You won’t drastically improve anything using this method, but it will improve some key performance indicators like flexibility, endurance and strength.
And importantly, the snack sized portion means one thing above all else: you can’t say you don’t have enough time to do it.