Power by the Hour

No time to be strong and healthy? Can’t find an hour a day to be fit? Really?

Time management is crucial to an effective fitness program. We all start the week with the same 168 hours. A key element to being mentally, physically, and spiritually fit is to maximize the hours you’re given each day. Every moment you’re either progressing toward your goals… or not. You’re either moving forward or backward.

Here’s what I’ve done to make the most of my time. I took a notepad and wrote down all my time commitments for a full week. I broke the hours down into generous portions for all of my activities – 8 hours a night for sleep, 40 hours for work plus 10 hours of travel time, 1 hour for every meal, 1 hours a day for work around the house, 2 hours with my son, and 1 hour a day for relaxation. Building in extra time for each activity, I still ended up with 17 hours a week to spend on an exercise program or something else.

I challenge you to evaluate your time in the same manner with the intent purpose of making fitness a real priority in your life. Break your days up into the actual minutes of how you spend your hours and be honest to list all the ways you waste time. Build in time for relaxation as a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle. Evaluate the numbers and see what you come up with.

Once you’ve gathered your hourly inventory, I’m relatively certain you’ll see that you do have time. Realistically, you could put 10 of those hours toward exercise, especially if you do something active daily. You can also focus on making your fitness routine part of your hourly life. For instance, plan on taking five minutes every hour to do something productive toward your fitness goal. Maybe it’s taking five minutes to perform sit-ups, push-ups, squats or a few of my Visibly Fit™ moves. Whatever you need mentally, physically, or spiritually to push yourself forward, take the time every hour.

Think of it as gaining power by the hour!