It's easy to forget that whether you're starting out or are a seasoned vet, fitness doesn't have to be complicated or so damn time consuming it becomes problematic in your life. First and foremost, we are responsible for what we make of ourselves and getting the most out of our existence and learning new things or adapting helps us grow. Throughout my fitness career, I've learned to create any workout I want no matter how long or short it is anywhere I go. It's a constant practice to find the creativity and develop the habit of doing something daily which at times can be hard because life throws us curveballs.
Lately, one of my things for daily exercise is to do something for one minute. That turned out to be the classic Bear Crawl; for one minute everyday I would do this exercise whether in the morning, after a workout or in the evening. One minute of this exercise is incredible. It has become such a good practice that I have now done it for 24 days straight. That's 24 minutes of just Bear Crawling.
It doesn't have to be fast, just get on all fours and start walking. This exercise is great for waking the body up, neurons firing and feeling a slight endorphin high at the end. Not to mention it gets the heart rate up pretty quick and targets so many muscles it's not even funny. You don't have to do the Bear Crawl, you can pick other animals to do for a minute or you can do isometrics or a callisthenic exercise for a minute, it's up to you. I prefer animal movements for that one minute because it challenges the body to move differently and just getting up and playing. Calisthenics aren't playful to me, I enjoy them don't get me wrong but the idea of being wild and primal just feels right, it feels ancestral.
Most think in order to accomplish a good workout, you need to do this for 10 minutes, lift for an hour, do 30 minutes on a treadmill or take some crazy aerobics or spin class around 3-4 times a week. This is more of a set up to fail because not everyone has time on their hands and have important things going on in their lives plus they might have kids, PTA meetings, conferences and jobs that just renders them dry at the end of the day. Instead, look into the idea that if you do some form of exercise for 60 seconds, it's a hell of a lot better than doing zilch. The funny thing about this is, one minute may feel like a cake walk but some exercises for that long may feel like the longest 60 seconds of your life. Once you get past a minute, go for 2 than 3 or spread your training throughout the day. You have more options than you were led to believe.
If you're up for it, start with Bear Crawling for 10 seconds each day for a week, than bump it up to 15, than 30 and keep adding till you get to a minute. You want to do something else, go for it. Hell if you want to bring it up to minute in stages, do 6 sets of 10 seconds and go from there, you can even make a tabata workout out of it (20 seconds on/ 10 seconds off for a max of 4 minutes) if you wish, make it work for you. One minute can change so many things it's mind bottling (channeling my inner Ron Burgundy) but seriously, what have you got to lose? Give it a chance and see where it goes, if you're still on the notion that you have to do something crazy for an hour or more 3 or more times a week than that's what you will end up or not end up doing.
Go and be Wild with these books on Animal Workouts & Exercises
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