Today’s email is inspired by real world events. And no, not by the mystery surrounding the “photo-shopped” picture of Princess Kate and her children.
It’s inspired by the epidemic of the “I’m-too-busy-ies”. I hear it from just about every client I talk to weekly. There is just not enough time in the day to do more and be more. Something always gets nudged to the side by another incoming demand or last-minute priority.
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the problem, but it is a different take on it. I’m going to introduce you to the concept of wedges vs blocks. Now, we’re not talking about geometry here, or cheese—we’re talking about how to fit things into your day by seizing the opportunity small amounts of time offers.
Kudos for this concept goes to another of my long-time clients, who has stuck with me for almost two years for a combination of 75% life and mindset coaching, 25% nutrition coaching. I will lovingly refer to her as Karine.
On a recent coaching call, we were peeling back the layers, revealing the roadblocks she kept encountering as she tried to prioritize fitting movement into her hectic on-the-go schedule. She's managing a demanding career that sometimes creeps into her non-work hours, a nearly 90-minute total daily commute, a kiddo with extracurriculars, and the list goes on. When I got her to dig deep about where she could fit small bursts in, she had her aha! moment, saying enthusiastically, “I have to start using wedges of time for movement, instead of waiting for blocks to be available.”
Yesssssssssssssssssss!
Prior to that epiphany, Karine had it in her mind that if she didn’t set aside a block of time for a workout, she couldn’t do anything.
Can you relate?
A lot of people want to workout every day, but they put so much pressure on themselves to get a "workout" in, instead of focusing on just getting some quality movement in. And when they can’t do the workout as prescribed, it just doesn’t feel worth it.
But the truth is, you don’t have to do a solid hour in the gym pumping weights or hitting the cardio machines; go to a spin, Pilates, or yoga class; or do some other specific workout to improve your health and wellness.
Sometimes just a 15-minute walk in the fresh air is enough!
That’s what I did today. I was inspired by Karine’s concept of the wedge and as I was sitting in front of my computer feeling restless, unfocused, and irritable about writing this very newsletter, I put it into practice. I had a call coming up within an hour and I could have continued flailing around at my desk, choosing to believe that 20 minutes wasn’t enough time to move in a way that would “count”.
Instead, I decided to zip around what my husband and I affectionately call the “Broxton Loop”, which is a trail behind our house short enough for our five-year old to conquer, almost without complaining.
I didn’t have to “get ready” or drive anywhere for this forest walk full of fresh air. I simply threw on my jacket, my boots, and my mitts (because there is still snow here in Atlantic Canada) and out I went. I utilized a wedge in my day—a very small amount of time—to get some movement in, instead of scrolling my phone for a break, or heading to the cupboard for a snack to soothe my anxious brain.
The result? The movement that I got in calmed my mind, brought me back to a focused state, stimulated my creativity, grounded me, and gave me a sense of accomplishment.
Beyond these instantaneous results, there are so many long-term benefits of movement that are essential to overall health and longevity. It supports heart health, cognitive health, mental health, immunity, metabolic health, and even sleep.
If you find yourself subscribing to the story that you’re too busy to workout, how can you start to utilize wedges in your own day to do something, anything at all? Do you truly need an hour to do a meaningful workout, or is this just a story you’re telling yourself so you can settle into something more passive?
If you had just 15 minutes, what could you do with it? While standard recommendations for movement per week are 150 minutes, or just over 21 minutes a day, a recent study says that less is okay too. The results of this meta-analysis, or study of studies, published in 2023 found that just 75 minutes weekly, or 10-11 minutes a day, of moderate to vigorous aerobic movement was enough to impact rates of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in sedentary populations.
Still think a 15-minute wedge of exercise isn’t worth it??
Not only will short bouts of movement improve your overall health and wellness, but choosing to fill short bouts of time with some movement will get you into the habit of fitting it in—no matter what—and in a way that doesn’t mean you have to clear your schedule to do it.
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