5 Simple-Ass Rules to Make Physical Activity Stick | by Joe Holder

In my line of work I’ve gotten successful because I keep things simple — while everything should be based in science, that does not mean you have to make it complicated when I put it into practice or when I explain it to my clients.

It turns out that one of the ways we mask our lack of understanding is by using complicated vocabulary and jargon. The truth is, if you can’t define the words and terms you are using, you don’t really know what you’re talking about.

I’ve worked with supermodels to pro athletes to individuals just trying to get healthy. Everyone thinks they are special — and for sure certain people are! However, there are a few rules that apply to everyone, regardless of how special you think you are :).

1.) Build exercise into your day

​Create a schedule that allows you to exercise under the conditions that you can control. In my opinion, it is much easier for us to control our mornings or our evenings. For you it may be your afternoons. Everyone is different but everyone does have holes in their day that they can decide what they want to do with. I personally use a technique called “hard time” vs “soft time”. “Hard time” are the moments in your day that are completely under your control but when you schedule something during this time it cannot be changed, thus the “hard” moniker.

These are the (relatively) non-negotiables in your schedule which I believe “movement” (i.e. exercise) on certain days should fall under.

Then you have “soft time”, moments in your schedule that can be moved or we can push to the wayside if certain unexpected events arise. We make the mistake of placing the time we have to take care of ourselves in “soft time” instead of “hard time”. Your self-care, which exercise is a part of, should more often than not be an inflexible moment of your day that is there solely for you. I encourage you to start to look at your day and build in movement as “hard time” moments.

2.) Think consistency over intensity

Be consistent. Every workout does not need to be extremely strenuous or long in duration, but building off the last point, if you can be consistent with your efforts this will go a long way into improving your overall health. That means accepting shorter workouts and not having every workout “crush” you.

Research shows that “easy” workouts, especially if they replace being sedentary, can have a profound impact on your health.

“According to a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology, replacing half an hour’s sedentariness a day with everyday activity reduces the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease by 24 per cent.”

I know most of us aren’t thinking about death at the moment (or maybe the existentialists out there, like me, slightly always are ha) but to use movement to feel good in the day to day is a needed benefit as well.

3.) A loss is fine — to lose is not

This might sound confusing but basically, don’t let a slip-up cascade. We see it all the time; we let one moment snowball into a bigger situation that is hard to escape — we lose (long term mistake) over a loss (a short term aberration). With our workouts let’s think of it like that: even if we miss one day, that does not mean we can’t start again tomorrow or the day after. Let’s not have a loss turn into a “lose”. Frankly, this applies to everything in life. Don’t let a failure convince you that you’ve failed.

4.) Enjoy yourself!

I cannot stress this enough. Find more workouts and activity that you enjoy! It might be my workouts; it might not be. That is fine. I simply want to introduce you to different ideas of movement so that you find the one that works for you. Regardless, subscribe to exercise YOU enjoy and that will make you MUCH more likely to have success.

5.) Think NEAT over exercise

“NEAT” is the concept of non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Basically, how many calories do I burn that is NOT during regimented exercise. This can be walking, stretching, going to your mailbox, walking around during a conference call, or taking the long way to get the paper from the printer. Have fun with the possibilities! Frankly, this is when most of your calories are burned so keep up your movement outside of ‘workouts” and this will have a positive impact on your health. Previous research has even hinted that NEAT is actually MORE important than your exercise time.

We also often overestimate how many calories we burn during a workout and only saving movement for the gym is a guaranteed way to limit your health potential.

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