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If You Have Time to Scroll, You Have Time to Stretch & Strengthen

What you THINK you spend time on and what you ACTUALLY spend time on are two different things. As humans, we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt to soften the blow on our psyche. In my experience, the top reason why a person neglects their physical health is they have no time. Is that a true and accurate statement?

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Before the computer age, television was the biggest time waster. Because a show only came on once a week and not everyone had a VCR, you dedicated those 30 or 60 minutes to it. Then VCRs came on the scene, and you could record a show and fast forward through the commercials to save time. Fast forward to the internet, and the world changed with how much time is spent in front of a screen. BroadbandSearch says the average human spends 147 minutes per day scrolling through social media. Add to that the time spent watching various streaming services for your “television” fix, and suddenly you’re pushing half a day’s work staring into a device! Yet, you say you have NO TIME.

In America, the obesity rate for adults is now at 40%, up from 33% a few years ago. Forcing people to stay home and isolate themselves for a couple of years has made this percentage increase quickly. Food delivery services make it easier for people to order fast-food and other fried delights easier because they have “no time” to grocery shop and cook. Everyone has the same 24 hours to work with each day; why do some people have time to exercise, and others don’t?

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The perception of exercising taking up hours of your day is completely false. People say they don’t have time because they are lazy and do not prioritize their health over things like social media and binge-watching shows. If you are offended by my statement, too bad, the truth hurts sometimes. Am I generalizing? Yes, I am, of course. If you have time to scroll, you have time to stretch and strengthen your body.

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On the flip side, because I work in a health club, I do see people working out daily for two-to-three hours. Is that necessarily helping them with their physical health? There are opposite extremists in every situation. As a fitness professional, I know you can get a solid workout done in under 60 minutes. Some workouts can be done efficiently under 30 minutes. You can stretch all your tight muscles from sitting at your desk all day in around 10 minutes. All of these times are less than 147 minutes spent daily scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, etc.

I have a friend with extreme back pain from being sedentary at work and completing an online graduate degree. Yes, she can make an argument for no time between her regular job, online courses, and online business. Recently she reached a point where she could not get off the floor after trying to do a few stretches her physical therapist suggested. The alarm went off! She called me and asked for my help because she knew I was writing an online course to help executives and professionals stretch in their offices for a few minutes per day. I gave her a few stretches she can do in under 5 minutes each time. Since implementing them every hour, she is in less pain and a happier camper than a couple weeks ago.

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Like everything else in life, there is a compromise. You do not need to spend two-to-three hours a day at the gym to be in reasonable physical health. You also do not need to spend 147 minutes a day scrolling through social media, plus watching streaming services. For general health, you can take 10 minutes a few times per day to stretch and strengthen your body at work and home, yes WFH, RTO, and hybrid work are all-inclusive for this statement. My friend is living proof of this practice and a believer in doing so. If you have bigger goals, you definitely need more than this to achieve them. Version 1.0 is always better than version 0.0.

Get started today by standing up and reaching for the sky every hour for 60 seconds. It’s free and feels good! Reach your arms out to the side and squeeze your shoulder blades, this also feels great and opens your chest and torso. You now have dedicated a whole 90 seconds to yourself without changing into workout clothes, joining a gym, and leaving your workstation. See how easy it is to get moving?

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