(Photos of faces removed to protect the guilty)
Several weekends ago I traveled to Boston in a Space Car (Tesla) with a group of friends. It is hard to be physically active in a car, but we can at least talk about it.
I told my friends about a work out routine I do every day which takes no more than five minutes. Here it is:
- One push up
- One sit up/reverse sit up (abdominal muscle related rep)
- One squat
Each week I increase the reps of each by one. For starters, the goal is to start out incredibly small so it is impossible to say “I didn’t have time today.”
The second reason to start out with only one rep each week is to practice proper form. There is no point starting something only to end up injured. Research how to do your moves before you jump in.
The third thing this accomplishes is it starts to form a habit. Slowly we can determine where this activity fits in our day and even look forward to it!
Last, we have is a shared message group (pictured above) where we can post when we complete the workout. This acts as a reminder to do the exercises if we haven’t already. We also make fun of one another, offer encouragement, post funny gifs, and link to articles of the infamous KFC Double Down sandwich. There is strength in numbers and we provide one another accountability.
Prior to starting this with my friends, I had been doing the routine for 29 weeks. I was a little surprised at how excited they were to start it so I convinced myself it would be worth rebooting the routine. I use this as a gateway activity and also increased walking at the track after work. Eventually, I even started cycling to work.
Get out there and have some fun. Don’t go overboard, start small and build up and avoid the injuries and setbacks that come with doing too much too soon.
-Nurse David