This article ran in the San Jose Mercury News today, and while I agree that consistent exercise is important, I am actually not totally in favor of what the article is saying. Basically what it says is if you do some sort of moderate activity (hiking, biking, jogging, yoga, etc.) for an hour a day you can maintain weight. That is fine if A) you are happy with your weight and B) if you have 7 hours a week to dedicate to exercise, but that is rarely a reality! Now if you have read this blog before, you will know that I am fully an advocate for healthy lifestyles and integrating movement into everyday life, but that is only a piece of the whole picture. Before exercise comes diet.
The first thing they state in this article is that 60 minutes a day is needed if women do not want to change their diet. Unfortunately, diet is the MOST important part if you want to have a healthy lifestyle. I would rather someone worked out 2 hours a week and ate right than work out 7+ hours a week and kept eating the way most Americans do. Now, ongoing moderate exercise (especially when social) has many positive mental effects which is why I am all for doing a little bit every day and building it into your life. However, if you want your body to perform at its best and you are overweight, then this is not going to cut it.
The one thing I did like about this article was actually before I even opened the link. There was an alternate link to a poll asking what people would have to give up to have time for exercise. This was a great question because it is one of the most important steps toward reaching any fitness goals (or any life goals for that matter) that you set for yourself. Many people fail to achieve their fitness goals simply because they did not have a clear idea of what it would take to succeed. They know they need to start eating right and exercising, but after the first week, they begin to realize that their life gets in the way. Before setting up a program, it is important to think first about the obstacles and then choosing how to work around them. If you do not have the time to cook your own meals, how are you going to make time? If you need to work out, what are you going to have to give up to make that happen? These are important questions to answer before you start, or at least to be aware of.
In summary, do try to be consistent but 7+ hours a week is probably going to be hard. Focus on diet first and integrating movement into your life (using the stairs, parking far away from work, take 5-10 minute work breaks to walk and stretch) and save your time at the gym for weight training that will actually produce results. Good luck and as always, happy fitness.
Colin
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