UNITED STATES—We have all been told that we need to exercise more, we have to engage in actually physical activity at least 4-5 days a week. That said the goal is to do at least 30 minutes a day, which I aim for at least an hour if possible 4 days a week. However, the problem with exercise is that consistency matters and if you’re taken off a schedule that you have come to expect, it totally destroys your day. Why?

It becomes an excuse for you to NOT exercise people and that becomes an ongoing problem. I try to work out after work. That tends to work best for me. I cannot get up in the morning and just exercise, my body will not react that easily people. Mid-day doesn’t work because I’m working, and I don’t want to work out in-between meals because that leads to you getting fatigued people.

So yeah, exercise is a game of scheduling and for so many Americans, we just always make the excuse we do not have the time, but guess what America: we have the time; we have to make it happen. Think of this, 30 minutes a day that is all you have to do people. That 30 minutes, you’re sitting on the couch watching a TV show, reading a book, watching a movie, listening to music, guess what you can be doing jumping jacks, pushups, running on the treadmill, using the elliptical, strength training, yoga or some form of exercise to keep your body feeling good.

People think you have to work out with a friend or family member; I’m not one of those people because sometimes how you work out is NOT the same as others. Some can talk too much and that can be damn annoying, they might be pushing you more than you want to be pushed or some other form of annoyance. If working out with a pal or friend helps, so be it, but try to keep your schedule aligned with your pal, don’t let them constantly change things from one day to the next. That bouncing around is only going to lead to frustrations and those frustrations are never a good thing people, not at all.

Now, the time doesn’t have to be the same every single day, maybe you have two days where it’s the same and the other two days it’s a different time, but that time stays consistent. You don’t want to be working out on Monday at 7 a.m., Tuesday, at 3 p.m., Wednesday at 5 p.m., Thursday at 12 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. You’re all over the place, but at the same time you are at least working out so it’s better to get some activity in then to have no activity at all. All I am saying is that yo-yo schedule just gives you more of an excuse not to do something, so having that disciplined and set schedule ensures you don’t make an excuse for not working out people.

Written By Zoe Mitchell