Before reading this, go into the bathroom, take off your clothes and look in the mirror. Are you happy with how your body looks? When you look at yourself, do you think that you could have a stronger, healthier looking body? Okay, now you can continue reading (clothes are optional).

For so long we have been hearing research coming out that we should be doing 30 minutes or more of exercise for a minimum of three times a week. But is that really enough? Here I will highlight some reasons and ways that we can all exercise 7 days a week and make it work without it being too stressful or time consuming.

Time

This is the most important word in our life for the most part. Our time is the most important commodity that we have and we need to manage it well in order to get all of the things done that need to be done every day in order to live our lives. It is also the word given as the biggest excuse as to why someone didn’t do that workout or other things that they had previously said that they would do.

We have to find the right balance of time for the workout and for the others things we need to do in life, such as work, family time and the sometimes long list of things we need to do daily. The workout has to be at a time that gives us the greatest success to be able to stay committed for the the long term success. For example, if going to workout after work before going home and taking off your shoes is easier for you to get rather than waking up an extra hour earlier to go before work, than pick that time to go. Mind you, there will be many other people thinking the same thing and the gym will be much more crowded in the evening than in the wee hours of the morning.

The beauty of doing a workout everyday, is that we do not need to devote a large chunk of our time to the workout as we are building on it every day. While some workouts will be longer than others, even if we can get a small workout in, that’s all that we need and the rest from not doing a big effort will help us to not be too sore for those big effort days. Another great thing about the daily workout in regards to time, is that on the days that we are really busy with other areas of life we can just do some body weight exercises that are super effective and take literally only about 5 minutes to get a great workout in.

The Gym — Do We Need One?

In my opinion based on my experience of working-out and exercising pretty much daily for as long back as I can remember, the short answer is, no. We do not need to have a gym to go to to get the a workout in. Especially nowadays with all of the content available to us to find many different workouts that we can do. There are tons of workouts that we can do everyday that we can just use our body weight. Plus, a workout is not just about using facilities and equipment like those that you would find in a common gym. The point for this is that you are doing some sort of a designated workout every day of your life.

Home Gym

The home gym is the koolest (always with a k) gym that you can possibly have as it is something that you can put all of the things that you need into what ever space that you have. Living in Hong Kong, we all have small places and you have to be creative as to where you can stash your home gym, so no-one can say to me that they do not have the space. Your home gym can and most likely will be portable if you are living in a small place. You can always grab the bands, kettle bells, jump rope or what ever you have in your home gym and go to the park down the street or find a back alley to get your workout on. Body weight exercises are an amazing way to get into a better shape. No excuses.

Stepping Your Way Slim

A great exercise that doesn’t require anything but your time and energy is to just go for a walk. Your walk though, needs to be concentrated on and done at one time or in some cases several walks throughout the day. Personally, along with my other workouts, I focus on making sure that I get a minimum of 15,000 steps a day and that comes to about 12km of walking a day. While that might seem like a lot, it actually isn’t and once we build that habit, then getting it in becomes super easy. We have to build good habits in life.

Morning Routine

I am very much a morning person when it comes to getting workouts and getting out the door for some sort of activity. Having a good morning routine can help to get that workout in early and then it is done. There is no ‘I’m too tired after work’ excuse as the workout was done at 6am that morning. Also having a good workout that you can get done in the morning sets you up for success for the rest of the day. You will be thinking about how great your workout was when you get to work and are moving through all of your normal work duties. Plus, your co-workers will notice that you are coming to work after exercising because you will have that post-workout glow on your face. The protein shaker in hand is also a sign as well.

For me, my normal morning routine is to get up and drink a glass of water. Get out the door by 6:15am to walk to the gym by 6:30, getting a cup of black coffee on my way. I lift weights from 6:30am to 7:10am and then get on either the bus or train to go to work. That is my morning workout schedule Monday – Friday and that is already 5 days of the week that I have gotten that workout in. Saturday and Sunday morning, I go to the gym or use my home gym right after I wake up. The morning can be a very special time for you if you make it that way.

Habit Building

What we do, what we eat, how we move is from the habits that we have in our lives. The biggest and most important thing that we can do for ourselves and for those around us, is to develop good life habits. Working out and living a life of movement all comes down to creating that habit in your life and it takes time to build and develop.

For myself, as I mentioned, I have always been an athlete of some sort. As a young kid, I rode my BMX bike everywhere which later turned into me skateboarding. I was on the basketball team and took basketball very seriously. From that, I learned about lifting weights and started to enjoy running until I was around 17 when I started boxing and then became a bicycle courier, which I did for 10 years and within that time fell in love with a Chinese Kung-fu style called Jow Ga. Now many years later, I still lift weights (even got my personal training certificate), still play basketball, still run and the martial art that I do now is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. All of my experience with exercise started with enjoyment of a sport of course, but the continued effort of the habit that I had built and later developed, is why I’m still in great shape today and rarely miss at the minimum, getting my 15,000 or more steps in every day.

Final Thoughts

Creating a daily habit of doing exercise will change your life for the better in so many ways. You will feel better and know that you are doing something to invest in your personal health every single day of your life and over time you will really see the changes in many other areas of your life. Your mood will be calmer, your body will be stronger, your basic ability to move will increase, on and on.

Furthermore, your actions will have a positive effect on those around you. You will not need to say anything to anyone about working out when they see that you are doing something every day to improve your own physical health. Mentally the daily workout will turn into a type of therapy for you to get that much needed release of endorphins that we all need as much as possible.

Get that body moving and see the results of your actions. Send me a message or comment below and tell me how things are going with your workouts and your experience.

KOMK

Please check out KOMK on The Importance of Setting Goals in Life