Integrated Exercise

Coaching is a big thing right now in certain circles. One of the exercises that is required by a life coach is the mapping of an "Ideal Week". I have to chuckle a little because I'm not a life expert but mapping my "Ideal Week" and posting it on my fridge has been a natural habit for me. It was one of those behaviours that my friends and relatives would stop to comment on: both with admiration and a little troubled shake of the head. Who does that? Up until recently, I was the only one I knew who did.

I used to have a more flexible schedule so I would use my ideal schedule to structure my days and weeks to make sure that all my "big rocks" got in my jar first so that the "little rocks, pebbles, and sand" wouldn't crowd them out. You know the story.

Funny thing is, that "Ideal Week" has been missing off my fridge since I started working full-time. I was kind of doing the shuffle in my head but abandoned my notions of being able to fit it all in. There are rocks, pebbles and sand all over the place in, under, around and over my jar and I didn't want to see it on paper.

The recent popularity of the "Ideal Week" schedule and my ever constant effort to somehow fit exercise into my lifestyle has inspired me to try my hand at time management again. I was pleased with how my new schedule looks, but in the end--exercise just didn't fit without bumping something else important out, infringing on our family dinner hour, or stoking my metabolism right before bed! What is to be done?

I decided that if I am going to exercise more often I am going to have to get very creative at "working it in" or as my blog title suggests...integration. "Exercise integration" has a completely different meaning in the fitness industry but for my purposes it means blending exercise with life. I was going to have to brainstorm ways to add physical activity to my day without depending on formal blocks of traditional exercise. I kind of already do that when I get on my stationary bike everytime my family & I sit down and watch our recorded Biggest Loser episodes. That's good but now it's time to take it to a whole new level.

Today at work, I was having trouble staying warm after a chilly morning and a frosty protein shake so I set a timer and did jumping jacks for 1 minute. Thankfully no-one saw me but at this point I don't think I would care if they did. I sat back down to my computer feeling a bit warmer and my metabolism moving a bit quicker. Nice. An hour or so later I did this again only with knee raises. That was it until another stint on the stationary bike at home. This may be how it has to be at this stage in my life.

I am still brainstorming. What other 1 minute exercises can I do? Can I arrange to ride my bike to/from work one day a week? What other tasks do I do that I could pair with physical activity of some kind. Sure, I'll be blessed enough a few times a week to get a "real" workout in, but these extras are going to make a huge difference between getting by and getting fit.

I'll keep you posted and you can let me know if you have any inspired ideas!