The Easy Exercise That Will Change Your Life
If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.
Hippocrates
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:26–27
Exercise. It is something we love to hate. Even if you are someone who enjoys exercise and understands the benefits for your body, maintaining the habit of exercise is not easy to do. Can I get a witness? Even so, it is a critical part of taking responsibility for your health.
Remember a few chapters ago when we mentioned that people often use Scripture to justify eating anything they want? Too many people try to do the same thing with exercise. You have no idea how many times I (Nelson) have heard people quote the following verse to me: “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8 NKJV).
“See?” they say. “The Bible says bodily exercise has little benefit. I need to spend my time focusing on more important things in my life.” I can’t blame them for clutching onto this excuse. I used to do the same thing. What I didn’t consider, and what they don’t either, is that the writer, Timothy, lived a drastically different lifestyle than we live today. In a normal day, just by walking everywhere he went and tending to his business, he was probably more physically active than many of us are in a typical two-week period. His life was full of built-in exercise; our lives are full of cars, elevators, desk chairs, and couches.
When you first begin your journey to take off extra weight, diet is the most critical factor. At first, exercise simply complements the changes you are making to what you put in your mouth. As you begin to drop pounds, exercise becomes more and more important. Once you hit your goal weight (and those new eating habits are fully integrated into your life), exercise becomes the key to helping you sustain your new healthy body for the long haul. This is good news for reluctant exercisers. It gives you a pass to get started slowly and ramp up—which is the wisest approach to a new exercise routine anyway.
Don’t Just Sit There—Get Moving!
We were made to move. Our bodies were created for physical activity. God never intended for us to sit all day, overfilling our stomachs and letting our systems atrophy. But sedentary lifestyles have become the norm. The typical American is sedentary 60 percent of their waking hours.1 This lack of physical activity is associated with a number of health problems, ranging from weight gain to osteoporosis to cardiovascular disease. Take a look at just some of the problems inactivity causes:
Are you convinced?
So the question becomes, How much exercise do we need to achieve the physical benefits we are looking for? Experts agree that the ideal amount of exercise we all need to maintain good health is seventy minutes, six days a week. If you aren’t in the habit of exercising, that may sound like an impossible number to you. The best way to reach that amount is to start slowly with simple, consistent walking.
Walk for Wellness
Walking is the oldest physical activity known to humankind. Generations before us walked miles every day and didn’t consider it exercise. Walking was just part of life; it was how they got from one place to another and went about their work. Our friend Steve Reynolds, author of Bod4God, has estimated that Jesus walked about fourteen miles a day.3
These days we have let a walking lifestyle slip by the wayside. Rather than walking a few extra steps, we drive around a parking lot for ten minutes, looking for a space closer to the door. If we would just park farther away, we could save time and get a little exercise to boot.
Most of us don’t have to walk much on the job, so we have lost that opportunity too. Think about Adam in the Garden of Eden. The first task God gave him was to tend to the garden, which would have required a lot of walking. Now we may walk down the hall for a meeting or walk the aisles of the grocery store, but that is about the extent of it.
Not only is walking great exercise but it is also the perfect jumping-off point if you aren’t used to getting much physical activity. Walking is cheap and convenient—and it will do wonders for your health. A brisk walk every day gets your blood pumping, raises your metabolism, and increases your body’s ability to burn calories for up to twelve hours afterward.4
That said, you have to walk far enough to make it count. A healthy goal is ten thousand steps per day. In general, ten thousand steps equals just less than five miles. According to several recent studies, walking ten thousand steps every day leads to
Walking ten thousand steps a day isn’t nearly as difficult as you may think. When I (Nelson) first started trying to get more active, I was not in good physical shape. I was overweight and lethargic. As part of my plan to reclaim my health, I decided to take up running. The first time I put on a pair of sneakers and tried to run, I couldn’t even make it sixty seconds. That first run turned into a walk around the block, and even that was hard! Nowadays, I try to run at least three miles most days of the week. On top of that, I have a goal to hit ten thousand steps throughout the rest of the day. I put a free pedometer app on my phone that tracks my steps (which I highly recommend; there are also many pedometer wristbands and watches on the market that can be helpful), and I am often amazed by how quickly those steps add up. You will be too.
Small, routine changes can help you work more walking into your life. What if you decided to take a ten-minute walk after lunch and dinner every day? Just schedule the time on your calendar. Walking for as little as ten minutes after a meal drastically changes your blood sugar level. What would you be doing instead? Sitting back down at your desk, with a food coma setting in? Sitting down on the couch to watch TV? Those are poor lifestyle choices that will keep you in the grip of poor health. Decide instead that you are going to walk around a parking lot or, if you are at home, around your neighborhood. Take the dog. It will be good for both of you.
As you begin to make walking a habit, you will naturally think of other ways to work in more steps on a daily basis. Here are a few ideas:
Set a goal to walk ten thousand steps every day. This small lifestyle change will pay huge dividends for your health and wellness.
When you feel ready, those ten thousand steps can become the foundation of an active lifestyle that includes other forms of exercise—maybe jogging, swimming, or biking. As you get stronger and healthier, experiment with different activities until you find a few you really enjoy. After a while, exercise won’t be a chore; it will be something you look forward to, something that brings you energy and joy. Always remember that you were made to move. The more you move, the more you lose.