Oh dear, what an inflammatory, sensationalised headline!

Or is it? If you’ve been exposed to my work before you know how strong I am about the importance of regular exercise or movement. What I like to share with people is when you research the people who move the most (i.e burn the most calories), most of the time they lead the longer life.

So the question is – have you created Exceptional Movement in your lifestyle? For most people, the answer is no (to find out what I mean by Exceptional Movement versus Mediocre Movement watch the 4-part video series where I breakdown the Exceptional Life Blueprint).

Get a room of 100 people and ask them they’d prefer to exercise, and at least 98 them will say exercise FIRST thing in the morning?

So, do YOU exercise first thing in the morning? If you do (or don’t), I’d LOVE for you to comment below and let me know how you do it (even in winter) and what your tips are for others who don’t.

If you don’t exercise first thing in the day, my bet is that it just doesn’t get done. Some people have a great routine of exercising AFTER work, and that’s awesome. However, again, ask MOST of these people, and they’d workout before work if they weren’t starting at 6, 7 or 8am.

The biggest secret to creating Exceptional Movement in your life

Remember – exercise requires ACCOUNTABILITY most of the time – WHY are you exercising? To set a great example for your kids? So that you can have more energy throughout the day? To avoid the ravages of dementia in later life?

It’s different for everyone, but knowing your WHY is vital when it comes to movement. If you don’t know WHY your moving, chances are you will fall off any bandwagon and remain in the fad group.

To break it down, there are THREE types of exercise that we ALL need to complete in order to have exceptional health, and really, an exceptional life.

1. Aerobic Exercise

Are you moving aerobically for at least 20 minutes each day? Walking is the BASELINE aerobic exercise. From there you might incorporate a 1 minute jog in to your 20 minute walk. You’ll find once you are out of breath (walking uphills will do this to you), you reach your anaerobic threshold, and start burning sugar. Now you are doing –

2. Anaerobic Exercise

Short bursts, often quick movements, using your muscles perhaps more than your organs (think of a run taxing the lungs and heart, whereas a push up will feel like it taxes your muscles).

Push Ups, Squats, Lunges, Burpees, Sprinting, Uphill Walking / Jogging, Functional Fitness, Planks, etc are all examples of anaerobic exercise.

A great way to incorporate anaerobic exercise is to do small chunks OFTEN throughout the day. Sitting at a desk? Great, do 20 squats every 45 minutes. Feeling sluggish? No worries – get down and give me 10 push ups! Haha, joking not joking!

Moving is the QUICKEST way to change your emotions. Do 50 star jumps right now and see how much different you feel. My bet is your feeling better about life. Simple as that.

And if you think this is NOT important to you, ask the 17,000 Australians who fractured their hip from a hall if they wish they were stronger on their feet (i.e more muscular).

If anything, anaerobic exercise becomes MORE important as you get older.

And after you’ve done a few push ups, you’ll feel the need to stretch the muscles out and get some more ….

3. Flexibility

Flexibility gets the blood circulating, the muscles lengthening and the organs enjoy a nice massage with some flexibility work. Yoga, Pilates, Qi Gong and Tai Chi are just some examples of popular flexibility exercises.

What type of agreements would you be wise to make with yourself in order to enjoy Exceptional Movement?

* A minimum of 20 minutes of exercise per day – Ideally 2 x Aerobic, 2 x anaerobic, 2 x flexibility as an example.

* Who do you need support from? Your partner, employer, children, friends, etc would want to be on board with you making exercise a priority, especially if it means you arrive it work a little later.

* Do you need a PT, yoga studio, workout buddy etc to keep you accountable? Remember, you’ll more likely rock up when you have an appointment with someone else.

Whenever it is that you are reading this, I have no doubt that you can see we live in a world dominated by mediocrity (especially when it comes to exercise). Please don’t succumb to those around you or the voices in your head.

Instead, apply the simple principles outlined above, don’t overcomplicate it, and you’ll find the momentum to moving exceptionally comes quicker than you think.

Stay great,

Marcus

PS – Some of my favourite “hacks” or quick ways to make exercise more fun for me are – Spotify and Pandora for music (both available as Apps or on your computer which is GREAT), and Tabata Timer when I’m doing Tabatas.

PPS – Check out these exceptional exercisers who are defying what most people think about getting older and exercise. Time, age, gender and health status are NO excuse to moving.

 

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