By steve
Last week we introduced the “6 C’s” pyramid approach to fitness, a conceptual and hierarchical approach to making fitness a part of your (and your dog’s) lifestyle. Today, we will provide details on the first of the “C’s”: Convenience.
Exercise Convenience: A Broad Definition
According to Webster, one definition of convenience is:
“a quality or situation that makes something easy or useful for someone by reducing the amount of work or time required to do something”
While this definition certainly captures the essence of what exercise convenience means it does not fully represent our meaning. Making exercise convenient doesn’t mean that you are making your exercise session easy. Rather, it means that you are making it as easy as possible to begin your exercise sessions, with a minimal number of obstacles or other reasons to skip your planned workout. The end result will be more consistent exercise and thus, a healthier body for you and your pet.
Five Tips to Make Exercise Convenient
Here are five tips to help you make it more convenient to exercise, with and without your dog.
- Minimize distance traveled. Wherever you exercise, make it close to the home or office so it is harder to skip your workout due to traffic or time constraints. Obviously, this means that you should prefer a gym (or canine gym) that is closer to your home or office than to one that is further away, thus shortening the total time commitment needed for a given workout.
- Keep it simple. For people who are just beginning (or re-starting) an exercise program, convenience can mean simple. Choose workouts that require minimal equipment or setup so that you can get started today, without requiring a learning curve or equipment instruction. This is one reason why we love running: all that is needed is a pair of sneakers (if that) and a leash. We can run virtually anywhere and anytime and warm ups are included (start slow and build speed).
- Choose the right time (with a bias to mornings). Exercise convenience can also relate to the time of day that you and your dog workout. Choose a time that is most convenient for you. Exercising in the morning is a smart strategy for many people because it is completed before any other distractions or excuses (e.g. a long, hard day, or drinks with your colleagues) cause you to cancel your evening workout. In any case, whichever time slot fits best into your schedule and that allows you to stick with the program, is the most convenient.
- Have a backup plan. Sometimes life gets in the way and interferes with exercise plans. We suggest you have a backup plan, a set of quick, intense, and “convenient” workouts that get you and your dog’s heart rates up in a short period of time. A five minute warm up and ten minutes of sprints can burn as much or more …read moreFrom: Five Tips to Make Exercise Convenient
