​Need a ‘No Excuse’ Approach To Exercise?

Jodi Stolove, MS

MFN Industry Expert

What do the following items have in common?
Alarm, Sunscreen, Exercise, Notes, Medication, Advice…

The answer is that they only work if you use them. Now if you are using an alarm you would insist that it has a mechanism that operates, whether it needs batteries or a wind-up. For sunscreen it must have SPF. For notes, they only work if you later read them and medication or advice you either take them or you don’t.

Exercise is an interesting one. We know that nearly all experts agree on at least the proposition that exercise works only if you do it. Some few are blessed. They love their exercise… some maybe too much. We all know someone who runs 25 miles per week… REALLY? Just give me an exercise that I don’t hate that will actually be good for me. Make it something that doesn’t require an hour of make-up and a parade at a gym. Don’t make me have to drive there or share the equipment and wipe it down. Give me something that won’t grind my joints to dust. Make it short. Give me some music that does half of the work for me. Is there anything like that available? No membership, no seminar and NO: ” how do I work the darn machine?!”

I know I have to do exercise. Pick your illness. The miracle cure for:

Heart disease – exercise
Diabetes – exercise
Depression & anxiety – exercise
Tennis elbow – exercise
Hiccups – exercise

“Doctors have long focused on the treatment of disease. Now we have a manual that highlights a means of prevention. ” —Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNN

In his book, The Exercise Cure, Jordan Metzl ponders:

“What if there were a drug to treat every illness, across all body systems, proven potent against heart disease, depression, arthritis, PMS and erectile dysfunction ― even in chronic diseases such as asthma, dementia, and certain types of cancer? What if it had no side effects, was completely free, readily available, and worked for everyone? Every single person who took it decreased her risk of premature death and raised his quality of life. Would you want it?”

The Center for Disease control writes:

• In 2011, more than half (52%) of adults aged 18 years or older did not meet recommendations for aerobic exercise or physical activity. In addition, 76% did not meet recommendations for muscle-strengthening physical activity.7
• About half of US adults (47%) have at least one of the following major risk factors for heart disease or stroke: uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled high LDL cholesterol, or are current smokers.8
• Ninety percent of Americans consume too much sodium, increasing their risk of high blood pressure.9

Photo from Life’s A Celebration Chair Dancing® Fitness Aerobic Series

So if we’re sure about the cure, how can we most effectively deliver it? Let’s throw out a few ideas:

Make it convenient…
Make it safe…
Make it user friendly… please don’t expect that everyone is a hip-hop devotee;
Make it as inviting as exercise can get with catchy & motivating music…
Make it doable in street clothes, work clothes, stay at home clothes or add a dimension: no clothes!
Make it so there is progress so that I can ramp my dedication up from “trying 2 minutes” to “I’m fitter for those stairs that were a challenge before…”

Try a minute of cure on ChairDancingFitness.com… It’s worth more than a pound of cure!