What gets you going?  Do you like to get physical by yourself or do you enjoy group activity?  Do you like walking or prefer weight lifting?…No matter what floats your boat, its important to enjoy your physical fitness.

Its nothing new to most of us that even 10 minutes of exercise can be beneficial to ones body physically and mentally.  The more sedentary people are, the greater the health risks, and visa versa.  However, you don’t necessarily have to be an avid weight lifter to reap the health benefits of less intense physical activity.  There is a lot of research showing that little bouts of exercise, such as taking the stairs, walking a longer way to your car, doing jumping jacks before hopping in the shower, etc. can all benefit you.

I was having a conversation with a friend last night about CrossFit.  There are certainly many benefits to high intensity training; and as he explained to me, aside from the physical benefits CrossFit provides, it is the team camaraderie, the friendships formed and the strong community environment that make CrossFit so appealing.  Although this is the type of physical activity that interests me, it isn’t for everyone.  For a lot of people this type of environment is extremely intimidating.  What is important is finding what you ENJOY doing.

I find that when people are just going to the gym because it’s part of their routine or because they feel obligated, they are often not getting as much benefit as those who are taking part in a workout/physical activity they are pumped about.  When we get stuck in a routine and it becomes monotonous, we lose interest and therefore so do our muscles.

Keep it interesting and do it because you love doing that activity – whether its lifting weights, stand up paddle-boarding, snowboarding, ice skating – you name it.  Try getting a partner in crime. Someone that keeps you on your toes!

More Research:
A newer study looked at the benefits of simply moving around a lot, using a national database of people who wore a device that measured their movements for at least 4 days.  Researchers controlled for age, diet, weight, smoking, medication, and overall health.  This study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, involved 6,300 people ages 18 to 85.  This study found that the 43% who moved around moderately for at least 150 minutes/week (approximately 21 minutes/day) in increments shorter than 10 minutes fared just as well in terms of cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and waist circumference as the 10% who did longer bouts of activity.