Good Sports
by Budd
Glassberg
Reprinted
with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on February 21, 2007
Compartmentalizing the Time
You Exercise
“From exertion come wisdom
and purity; from sloth ignorance and sensuality.” – Henry David Thoreau
Running past the windows of a health club, I noticed a great many people exercising on machines while watching a television or listening to something through MP3 earbuds. In an era where multitasking surrounds us, it is not unusual to see people getting in their exercise at the same time watching or listening to the news. Except for multitasking while driving a motorized vehicle (driving while talking on a cell phone or eating which should be avoided for obvious safety reasons), combining more than one activity can be an effective use of time. Unfortunately, the opposite is true of most people when it comes to exercise.
Compartmentalizing is the most common way we, as Americans, view our exercise. We are told that we need to practice aerobic activity for 30 to 60 minutes a day and so we ride our bikes, or run, or go to a health club and exercise for an hour. We believe that is our time of exercise. We get it over with and then spend the remainder of the day sitting at a desk, thinking that our exercise is complete for that day. While we may multitask while exercising by listening to music, most of us do not consider integrating our exercise into our work day. This type of compartment thinking robs us of the opportunity to lead a more active life.
Like so many others, I have been guilty of missing the chance to be more active when I am not exercising. I have often taken my car to the park where I went for a run. The park is less than two miles from my home. It would be just as easy to warm up by walking to the park, thereby saving on gas and getting in some more exercise. I have often driven to the store rather than walk, in order to save time. This time saved is most often used for inactive leisure. It was more habit than anything else which has kept me attempting to save this time that was frequently wasted in other ways. It is the same mind set that has me call another at the office on the phone rather than walk down the stairs to speak with them. It is a sloth-like behavior that mimics the “an object at rest tends to stay at rest”.
About a month ago, I decided to change my way of thinking about exercise. Instead of thinking that my run for that day was enough, I began looking for ways to become more active. I found that most days, I did not need my vehicle at work, so I walked. When walking to and from work, I attempted to move at a very fast pace, thereby getting in two additional workouts per day. With this new paradigm, I started walking my dog also at a very fast pace. The additional activity has energized me in a very positive way.
I began to notice that there are
people who go out of their way to avoid being active, sometimes bordering on
the ridiculous. One morning I was
walking Winnie after an inch of snow fell during the night. Going past a house I noticed a fellow using
his snowplow to remove the inch of snow from his driveway. I am certain that a shovel would have
sufficed and probably been less work than the plow, but this guy was determined
to use this back saving device in order to avoid the shovel. In
Compartment thinking, when it comes to exercise, is very limiting. Breaking free of it allows each of us to become more active, while fulfilling our daily tasks. Challenging yourself to find new ways to add movement to your every day life can significantly improve your energy and happiness.
Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.