Exercise can be time-consuming, and for busy people, it may be extremely challenging to introduce even 15 minutes of exercise a day. However, that’s looking at things from the short-term perspective.
Whenever you say you don’t have time to exercise, you’re expressing that you value your health less than whatever else keeps you busy. However, when asked about your values you wouldn’t say that work is your number one priority, would you? Most people put health at the top of their core life values. Yet, their daily routines don’t reflect it.
As the saying goes, if you don’t make time for health, you’ll have to make time for illness. It’s 100% true. Numerous studies show that a lack of exercise is a major cause of sickness.
For instance, a 2012 paper says that “the body rapidly maladapts to insufficient physical activity, and if continued, results in substantial decreases in both total and quality years of life. Taken together, conclusive evidence exists that physical inactivity is one important cause of most chronic diseases. In addition, physical activity primarily prevents, or delays, chronic diseases, implying that chronic disease need not be an inevitable outcome during life”[xviii].
Another 2012 article on the effects of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide has estimated that physical inactivity causes 6% of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease, 7% of type 2 diabetes, 10% of breast cancer, and 10% of colon cancer. In general, inactivity causes 9% of premature mortality[xix].
These numbers are very conservative as the data regarding levels of physical activity was self-reported, and people notoriously overestimate how much exercise they get the same way people underreport how much they eat.
A 2015 study of over 334,000 European men and women has found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to lack of physical activity than to the number of obesity-related deaths[xx]. The authors of the study shared a surprising fact that doing exercise equivalent to a 20-minute brisk walk each day (burning between 90 and 110 calories) would take a physically inactive person to a “moderately inactive” group, which would reduce her risk of premature death by 16 to 30%.
I could cite scientific research about the dangers of physical inactivity all day long, but I think I’ve already proven my point – you can’t afford not to exercise, and a lack of time is no reason for not doing it.
Let’s say you save two and a half hours a week (the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommended amount of weekly physical activity[xxi]) by not exercising. That’s about 22 minutes a day, or 130 hours a year.
Sounds like a lot?
Then consider how much time it would take you to recover if you became ill due to a lack of physical activity. Even a simple cold can result in a few days of decreased productivity and additional money spent on medication. And we’re not even talking about chronic diseases that cost thousands a year and hundreds of hours wasted on doctor visits, regular check-ups, time spent researching how to make yourself feel better, etc.
If you put these calculations in your mind and remind yourself of them each time you say “I don’t have time for exercise,” you’ll realize you’re making a bad trade between saving 22 minutes a day and potentially losing more time later on because you’re feeling horrible.
In addition, we still haven’t even considered additional bad sides of physical inactivity such as:
- a weaker ability to deal with stress, anxiety, and/or depression (exercise can alleviate symptoms among clinically depressed[xxii], reduce anxiety sensitivity[xxiii] and treat depression and anxiety[xxiv])
- lowered perception of your attractiveness (exercise improves self-worth in women[xxv], and is even more effective when done outdoors[xxvi])
- weaker brainpower (exercise improves cognitive function in young adult males[xxvii] and prevents cognitive decline that begins after age 45[xxviii])
- lower productivity (exercise increases productivity[xxix] and energy[xxx])
- worse creativity (exercise enhances creativity[xxxi])
- worse sleep (exercise improves sleep[xxxii])
Yet you’d rather save 22 minutes a day than tremendously improve the quality of your life and help you do more in less time? Besides, this list is only a small selection of all the benefits provided by physical activity.
If I told you that investing 25 minutes a day in exercise would give you an additional hour of productivity each day, would you still lack time for exercise? If I sold you 60 dollars for 25 dollars, would you tell me you don’t have the money?