5 minutes per day exercise challenge

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FitnessTim
FitnessTim Posts: 234 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Someone close to me was having a real hard time getting started with exercise. She had set a goal of doing 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week but kept failing.

I suggested that she try doing 5 minutes per day, everyday. At first she didn't take it seriously but I kept pushing. Who can refuse to do 5 minutes of exercise?

At first she did manage to get into the habit of 5 minutes but usually she did more. Once a person gets started doing another 5, 10 or 15 minutes is relatively easy. On days she didn't feel like it, she would fall back to just 5 minutes.

Today that same person does an hour of exercise everyday and only occasionally drops it to 20 or 30 minutes.

I was so impressed with the results I now follow my own advice. On days I am really pressed for time, I'll commit to only 5 or 10 minutes.

The theory behind this approach has to do with habituation. The hardest part of getting started is simply developing the habit of exercise. Once you have the habit you can take to whatever level you want.

Replies

  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    I like this idea and think it might be helpful for others.

    I don't usually have an issue getting started, but even on days that I'm less than enthusiastic I find that once I have started it's much easier to just keep going.
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    This is a great tip! I use the same principle for cleaning the house and it tends to work the same way - once I've been cleaning for the allotted 10 minutes, I have some momentum so I keep going until the whole house is clean.

    I never thought to apply it to working out, but I can see how it would work!

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