Fit in fitness

Fit in fitness
Working out around your 9-to-5

We all know the excuses—the exaggerated reasons we convince ourselves are legitimately hindering our “genuine” attempts to restart our fitness plans.

On Monday, it’s that case at work that landed on your desk at 4:56 p.m. and held you, a hostage in your own cubicle, late into the precious evening hours—the time you swore would be devoted to launch the dawn of your new exercise regimen.

You’re already double-booked both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and come Thursday, you’ve lost your motivation for anything but a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and prime-time TV.

You’re not about to give up your weekend plans, even if they only entail grocery shopping and a trip to ShopKo. And getting up any earlier than you already do sounds less appealing than moving back in with your parents.

Fitting in fitness never used to be this difficult, right?

The days of rolling out of bed sometime between 10 a.m. and noon, depending on your feelings toward that “optional” geography lecture, are behind you. No more free memberships to the campus fitness center. No more days with only three 50-minute classes on the agenda. No more dorm intramural dodgeball teams to painlessly keep you active. From this point on, incorporating fitness into your new “adult” life is up to you.

In society today, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are active regularly. An alarming 25 percent are completely sedentary. These numbers do not add up to a healthy society. Our population of overworked, overstressed individuals does not, in general, make health an immediate priority. It’s always on the long-term “to-do” list but never on today’s agenda. But what many forget is that an unhealthy, inactive lifestyle today will lead to a long list of health problems tomorrow. It is vital to get on track now to maintain a healthy level of fitness throughout the many transitions life is throwing your way.

Carrie Flatland, 23, learned this first-hand. Flatland’s activity routine was diverse during college and included gym workouts, aerobics classes and rollerblading. Her days of trekking across campus to class and nights spent on her toes as a waitress also kept her active.

But it wasn’t until Flatland started her first full-time job that she realized the importance of those individual bits of activity throughout her college days.

“I never realized how little things like my waitressing and walking to classes added up to exercise,” says Flatland, who estimates she gained between 10 and 15 pounds during that first year after graduation of sitting at a desk in an office.

“My fitness routine fell by the wayside when I entered the real world,” Flatland says. “I had moved to a new state and was overwhelmed by my new 40-hour work week. I was focused on my job, learning a new city and meeting new people—staying fit got put on the back burner.”

It is important, however, that fitness remains a priority throughout the post-college rollercoaster ride of establishing a career and deciding what direction you want your life to take. According to personal trainer Linda Freeman of Green Bay, the many long-term physiological benefits of physical activity are reason enough to make it a priority throughout your 20s. “You quit building bone in your 20s,” she says. “It’s now that you have to establish a habit to maintain bone density throughout the rest of your life.”

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