As I’ve continued with my goal to incorporate fitness into my busy school and family life, I’ve had to re-imagine the way I look at working out, specifically running. In the past I’ve been of the mindset that, in order to “count”, a run had to be at least 45 minutes. When you factor in preparing for the run, stretching, and other factors, this meant that a workout would inevitably clock in at a little over an hour. This may not seem like a large amount of time, but with a finite amount of precious time per day do any number of things, it is a fairly significant chunk for me. This has become especially true since I’ve become a father, as I need (and want) to be around the house more in order to help out. In previous years, if I didn’t have an hour to dedicate to exercise I would forgo it entirely. This led to me losing motivation because of a deteriorating level of fitness, which would predictably result in me abandoning exercise until my next heart-felt (and ultimately doomed) resolution. This time around, however, necessity has pushed me to look at running from a new perspective. Every run doesn’t need to be a long one – it’s just not possible. It’s all about finding the little windows of time available to at least work up a bit of a sweat. What matters is getting out there to get the heart rate up and to keep your body used to the idea that it is a physical machine. Using this perspective, I’m not allowing myself to go long enough between runs that the idea of running begins to seem like a foreign concept.  Even with a 20-30 minute run, I feel healthier both mentally and physically, and that’s proof enough for me that a “micro-workout” is still valuable. The American College of Sports Medicine would agree, as they recommend that adults should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 5 days per week OR engage in 20-minutes of vigorous activity 3 days per week. In order to integrate fitness into a busy life, sometimes what’s required is a change in perspective. If this change is one that enables you to meet your goals – even if those goals are not as lofty as in the past – I see nothing wrong with that. 

Below: a Strava snapshot from one of my runs around Beacon Hill Park