According to Healthy People 2020, 80% of American adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.  80 percent!  Dude, that's like, almost everybody!  Does this statistic mean that 80% of American adults are unaware that exercise is good for them?  Does it mean that the majority of us don't have a clue that moderate intensity exercise helps protect us from mean and nasty diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, osteoporosis and depression?  Does it mean that throughout their entire lives most people have been told, and thus believe, that sitting (or riding, elevator'ing, escalator'ing, moving-walkway'ing...) are healthier than moving more?  No.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that all 80% of those Americans not meeting the recommended amount of exercise know, for a fact, that exercise is good for them and they should be doing it regularly.

So why aren't they?  Why are 80% of people not getting the recommended amount of exercise?  Well I can't speak for every individual who constitutes that 80%, but I can take a guess at what they would tell you.  They would tell you they "don't have time." 

Sound familiar? 

I'm not going to lecture about how we all get 24 hours, how you need to prioritize your time and make your health more important.  What I am going to tell you is how to workout efficiently, at home, so you do have more time. 

I think in today's fast-paced, high-tech world, we think our exercise routine has to also be fast-paced and high-tech.  We think we need bells and whistles, muscle-bound trainers who scream "ONE MORE REP" while we flounder on the mat.  We think we need to drive somewhere to workout, that we need machines on which to exercise and places with smoothie bars.  Definitely need the smoothie bars.  And when we think we need fast-paced, high-tech, what we really think is, "I don't have time for that."  And honestly, you probably don't.  Who has time for personal training sessions, driving to and from the gym (in traffic!), time to wait for the fancy machine, time to take the group fitness class du jour?  Certainly not me.  And I'm guessing, probably not you, and 80% of adults.

On this week's blogs, I'm going to bust your "I don't have time" barrier.  I'm going to convince you that you do have time to exercise, because you're going to do it efficiently, and you're not going to drive anywhere to do it. 

Posted by Rachel L. May
Adjunct Faculty, College of Health Sciences