Just Do It

The American population is slowly turning into a nation of couch potato slugs.

According to a recent study published in Medicine, Science, Sports and Exercise, 78.7 percent of Americans get less than 25 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. In fact, on most days, the average American gets less than one minute of vigorous activity.

If exercise is a struggle for you, here are my recommendations:

1. Pick any physical activity you enjoy. It doesn’t matter if its salsa dancing, running, swimming, kettlebell training, bodyweight exercises, soccer, or energetically walking your dog. All that matters is you take up Nike’s motto and "Just do it."
2. Aim to "just do it" at least three days per week for 30 minutes. Try not to save up all of your activity for the weekend.
3. If you need the extra incentive, "make a date" with a friend to exercise together once a week or book regular sessions with a trainer. And to give yourself even more incentive, have your friend or trainer penalize you in some way if you blow off the workout. Maybe agree to treat your friend to a night out if you don’t show up… or have the trainer ding your credit card even if you cancel.

[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is the creator of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system. For a free online source of information, motivation, and social support to help you improve your health, lose weight, and get fit, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

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