I hate exercise. I think I have pretty much hated exercise for as long as I can remember. I suspect there probably was a time when I used to run around for fun, because when I look at little kids they all seem to do that . But to be honest, when it was playtime at school, you’d generally find me huddled in the corner with a book, rather than throwing a ball around.
In my teenage years I took to dancing with a passion – ballet, jazz, contemporary – I did it four times a week. But that was different. That was creative, that was performance, that was getting out there and showing off! I didn’t think of it as exercise at all.
But you grow up, you get out of the habit, dance classes are not an option because you work shift work – and before you know it, it’s nearly 20 YEARS since you actually did any consistent, meaningful exercise. And despite the fact you know it’s good for you, that you can no longer bear to look at skinny jeans let alone fit in them, and that you don’t always recognise that woman in the mirror if you catch her at the wrong angle – you just can’t stomach the idea of joining a gym and giving up that precious time in the evening when you’d prefer to settle down to a glass of red wine and an episode of The West Wing.
So what is a girl to do?
Exercise just a bit. Just a tiny, little bit. So tiny, you don’t really notice it. So tiny, it’s embarrassing.
The Japanese have the idea. They have a concept called Kaizen. The art of achieving great and lasting success through small, steady steps. Cutting out coffee by taking one less sip a day. Reducing your sugar intake by one grain of sugar each time. You may laugh – people are certainly laughing at me – but I don’t care, because it’s working.
In his book ‘One Small Step Can Change Your Life’ Robert Maurer explains how Kaizen is designed to circumnavigate the fear that blocks success. Change is frightening, he says, and there’s a bit in our brain which sets off alarm bells whenever we want to change our routine. The brain just doesn’t like it when we decide we are now going to be one of those super women with washboard stomachs and Madonna like muscles, and it sends us straight to the couch to stop us in our tracks. And so we shrug our shoulders, pour that glass of wine and settle in for the evening and tell ourselves we were never really the exercising type anyway.
So what we need to do is trick that darstardly brain with a little bit of subterfuge. “It’s ok Brain,” you say. “I’m not really exercising. I’m just getting up this morning and I’m putting on these exercising clothes and I’m jigging about on the spot for a minute. Just one minute. That’s it – I promise. No real exercise going on here. No sirree.”
And it works.
The brain rolls over, goes to sleep and says, “All right. As long as it’s only for a minute.”
And you do that for a week, every day, just one minute of getting up, getting into your exercise clothes and jigging about.
And then the next week, you make it two minutes. The brain pays a bit of attention, but with a bit of luck it rolls over, goes to sleep and says “It’s all right, she can’t be achieving much in two minutes, I’ll leave her to it.”
And the next week, you add another minute, and so on.
And by the end of the year you are exercising every single day for 52 minutes a day (including warm up, cool down and stretching) and what do you know? You are an exercise champion, and you don’t even know how you got there. And that brain of yours has slept through it all!
That’s my plan anyway. I’m up to week five. I have exercised every single day for the last 36 days, and I HAVE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE IN MY LIFE!! And have I dropped three dress sizes? Do I fit into my skinny jeans? Can I run a marathon? Of course not! Five minutes a day doesn’t make much difference at all to any of that. But 52 minutes will, and one day I’ll be doing 52 minutes a day. And right now, I can be smug and virtuous, because I know I’m taking the steps to get there.
So why not come and join me? You could jump in at five minutes and do it alongside me, or start at the beginning at one minute, it’s up to you. But if I can trick my brain, so can you, and your body will be forever grateful for the care you are giving it.
Suzi
onegoaloneminute.com
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I just *love* this article, and the whole concept of Kaizen. We hear so much about “quantum” changes and explosive growth, but if more of us would allow ourselves to grow rather than explode, we’d probably be better off.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey, Suzi.
This is a timely article – I used to practice Tae Kwon Do for about 15 years and was in amazing shape… though in the later years, while I loved being in shape I didn’t like working out to stay in shape.
Once work and “real life” became reality, I stopped working out altogether (with the occasional racquetball game).
The reason why this article is timely is because just a week or two ago, I started “working out” first thing in the morning.
Specifically, 10 pushups and 10 jumping jacks. After about a week, I doubled that to 20 pushups and 20 jumping jacks.
The interesting thing is, even in just that 1 minute I can feel my energy significantly lifted – and if I’m tired I wake up and feel great. I guess the side effect is that I’m actually getting a workout
-Chris
http://twitter.com/ChrisCade
Hiya
This is a good article and practical for people wanting to begin exercising. Some people enjoy developing endurance and this may be a useful way to do that.
I enjoy short, intense bursts of exercise 30-60mins max includig warmup and cool down stretches.
However, I’m sampling your method here for some bodyweight exercises I’m using again.
Thanks
Jens
Suzi,
It’s also timely for me! I’ve been wanting to exercise again and I never find the way. I’m confident that this article will help.
Knowing how I go about things, the 1 minute would soon transform into 1 hour.
Thanks!
Awesome article. It’s so true … the end goal can be overwhelming. But we don’t object to small changes so much. This has been an inspiring read … I’ve been trying to change my dietary habits a bit, so I’ll just make a tiny shift every week.
Blessings,
Andrea
Thanks all for your comments. Am pleased you found it useful. If you would like to be part of this grand experiment, then please feel free to sign up to onegoaloneminute.com and we can do it together. I have to say one of the things that’s kept me going, is that by blogging, I am accountable to someone. I’d be delighted for you to add a comment each day saying whether or not you’ve managed your one minute+, and we can figure it out together if you seem to be resisting it despite your efforts.
It’s terrific to see people using the concept for other things they want to tackle, like diet – and Jens, there’s a few people doing this with me who are thinking along your lines, who are doing an extra pushup each week. Would love to hear how you go with your bodyweight exercises….
Suzi
One of the most difficult aspects of introducing and implementing Kaizen strategy is assuring its continuity.