Exercise When You Can

Some exercise, even a few minutes at a time, is better than no exercise.

What I read: “Exercise May Be the Single Most Potent Medical Intervention Ever Known” by Derek Thompson. Published August 30, 2024.

Once upon a time, I was an avid exerciser. After years as a competitive gymnast and professional dancer during my youth, I continued my physical betterment through running, weights, yoga, and more for nearly four decades. Then something happened.

What happened? I’m not sure. Laziness? Stress? Both? Maybe other factors? I’ve never been able to reliably pin down why suddenly my lifelong exercise habit devolved into only sporadic attempts.

Amid this lull, I’ve had spurts of inspiration and returned to steady workouts, if only briefly. During the pandemic, I ordered some high-end elastic resistance bands and over a 12-week period transformed my body considerably with daily focused workouts. Then I stopped.

In my defense, during the last few years I’ve had some knee and shoulder injuries that waylaid my fitness endeavors. But that’s not an adequate excuse if I’m entirely honest. I could easily have exercised around those injuries but chose not to and my fitness level and the appearance of my body took a commensurate hit.

One thing I’ve always done and continue to do is walk. A lot. I’m currently vacationing in Scotland and haven’t walked less than 15,000 steps a day for the past week with one day of 22,000 steps (9 1/2 miles). So, at least that’s good.

I’ve also attempted to revive my past regular yoga practice and have had some success, but that too has at best been lackadaisical overall.

Today, I was reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Pump Club” newsletter (recommended) and it pointed me to an excerpt of an interview with professor and researcher Euan Ashley by Derek Thompson, “Exercise May Be the Single Most Potent Medical Intervention Ever Known.” In that excerpt was a startling statement by Ashley.

One minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life.

Wow. For some reason, that sentence struck me in a way that sparked some motivation. It might sound silly, but immediately after reading that I dropped to the floor alongside my bed and did pushups and squats for a couple of minutes.

A few minutes of pushups and squats isn’t going to suddenly catapult my fitness level and return some musculature and leanness to my body, but it’s a start. A start is a start. One of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary definitions of the word start is “to begin an activity or undertaking” and that’s how I’m looking at it – a new beginning.

Maybe the one minute of exercise buying you five minutes of life perspective will give you some exercise motivation too. We never know what’s going to propel us to beneficial endeavors. We find inspiration where we find it. For now, I’ve found it in those few words and maybe you will too.

In the interview, Ashley explains the abundant benefits of exercise because exercise improves every system in our bodies and reduces our chances of disease.

• 60 percent less likely to have atrial fibrillation.

• 50 percent less likely to have diabetes.

• 70 percent less likely to fracture your hip.

• 50 percent less likely to have colon cancer.

• 25 percent less likely to have breast cancer.

• 25 percent less likely to get depression.

• 70 percent of people who are active in their daily lives report better sleep.

• Over many years, you’re much less likely to die.

So, whether you spend a few minutes exercising or an hour a few days a week, the benefits are considerable.

I’m going to stop writing this post, go for a walk, and then do a bit of yoga. After all, a few minutes of that will buy me more of life, and that’s a great deal.

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