Sunday, February 14, 2010

A few moments well spent

I know it's hard - like me, you probably never have enough time for all the things you need/want to do. Very often you barely get done the things you need to do, let alone the things you want to do. In particular, most of us have the best intentions of training every day - or at least several days a week. In practice, we end up missing lessons or training sessions for any number of reasons: business trip, client issue, sick wife or kids, friends visiting from out of town, etc.

My suggestion is to develop a very fast set of things you can do every morning and every night - the drill should take no more than 5 minutes tops, and be 2-3 movements total. This is something you should be able to find the time for EVERY DAY. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Find a quiet spot to do them; cross off each day so you know you did it. Feel happy that no matter what, you always get in those few core movements. Make sure they don't need anything except your body weight, so you can even do them in a hotel if need be. Make it a promise to yourself. Some of my favorites are:

  • pushups and crunches (work up to doing 50 pushups and 200 crunches; it should take about 5 mins)
  • squats/coconut crushers (work up to doing 100)
  • leg stretches (2-3 movements for helping open up your hips)
  • pull ups on a bar
  • 2-3 vikram yoga postures (1 minute each)
  • some stick movements
  • any of the exercises we do in class (esp the ones Lila does at the end!)
You get the point... that 5-10 minutes per day can create a lasting effect and change on your body - IF YOU DO IT EVERY DAY. The routine/habit is just as valuable as the movement.

Don't skip days. Ever. Period.

Let me know how you get on.