1% Better Every Day (part 4/6)
Kaizen for Getting Into Shape – Health and Fit
Okay, so far we have looked at a whole lot of theory regarding kaizen. We’ve seen how it works in business and manufacturing where it started, but now it’s time to address how it can work in our personal life – to see the theory in action. We begin by looking at Kaizen as it applies to working out.
Microworkouts
The most obvious way to apply the concept of “small changes every day” to health and fitness, is to try and employ the idea of the “micro workout.” This means that you will be exercising for just a couple of minutes each day, to begin with. This then has numerous advantages: it makes the prospect of workout far less daunting, it means committing to a much smaller challenge while your energy levels are low, and it means forming a new habit.
So let’s say that instead of going to the gym four times a week and eating 500 fewer calories a day, you instead commit to doing 20 press-ups or 5 minutes step work out (work with your current fitness levels) every morning and skipping your morning latte.
So now you’re exercising a little bit every day, which will have some benefit. At the very least, it will get your blood pumping, and it will tone your muscle slightly.
What’s more, is that you will begin to form that new habit.
It can take anywhere between 2-6 weeks to form a new habit.
However long it takes, the idea is that once you’ve been partaking in a particular behavior for long enough – say 21 days – it’s then easier to build off of that. So you’re now someone who does 20 press-ups or a 5-minute step routine in the morning. Much easier to go from that to someone who does 50 press-ups, rather than to try for 50 right away.
Likewise, once you’re used to living off of 50 calories less in your latte, it might become easier to start dropping other sources of calories from other areas of your life.
True Kaizen and Getting Into Shape
So, is this true kaizen?
Not really.
There is definitely value in the concept of the micro workout. There is also a definite benefit to trying to cut calories here and there from your routine. But really, kaizen for fitness should mean looking at your entire routine and assessing what about it is making you unfit. Cutting that latte is a good start. But perhaps you also look for other small changes you can make to reduce your caloric intake.
And moreover, you might also start looking for other reasons in your current routine that might be preventing you from training or from eating right. In other words, you’re going to look at your entire lifestyle and routine as one giant “flow” or “process” and then attempt to make improvements.
If you want to get into shape, but you can’t quite motivate yourself to do it. The problem is not physical, it’s psychological. But how do you go about breaking bad habits and getting yourself into the gym or space to exercise despite those reservations?
Well first of all we need to assess each of the psychological and situational blocks that are stopping you from achieving your goals, and then we need to look at how to eliminate them. This will work for fitness, but it will also work for many other areas of your life if you apply the same principles.
The key thing to recognize here is that energy is a finite resource, as is time. You can’t keep adding more things to your routine and expect to get into shape. You’re probably burned out and perhaps a little stressed or even depressed – that is why you’re not in shape.
If you want to improve your health, then you need to look at ways to make your day more efficient so that you’ll have more opportunities to improve your health in other ways.
Powerful Changes For Improving Fitness
What Can Go?
First, ask yourself “what can go?”
If you’re currently using all your energy by the end of the day/week, then look at your current routine and ask what you can cut out. It might be something simple: maybe you could go to bed an hour earlier if you are just spending that time flicking through TV channels?
Or maybe it’s something that requires a little more organization: perhaps you could speak with your employer about your workload if you find yourself stuck to your desk beyond the time you should finish, perhaps you need to look at your workflow and be disciplined in switching off. If you are spending time running around after children and being a taxi, can you share that load?
Even something small – like getting a dishwasher so you aren’t washing plates anymore – can potentially save you a lot of energy to then be used exercising.
Don’t keep trying to add to your life. Ask what you can cut out!
Where To Fit It In?
Remember in our example that switching the order of events when uploading articles could save us countless hours and lots of money? The same is often true for exercise.
So ask: when is the best time for you to exercise? Keep in mind factors like showering. If you exercise in the morning before your shower, then you are not adding extra time by showering as well.
Alternatively, you might find that working out on your lunch break at work works well for you – because you’ve eliminated the need for travel.
Here again, we’re looking to reduce “waste” in the form of movement, or “non-utilized talent” (that’s you!).
More Small Fixes
But there are probably more small fixes you can make in this efficient mindset too. For instance, ask yourself how many calories you are currently burning in a day. It may well be that you are like many people and you hardly move in a given day!
Wearing a fitness tracker or step counter can bring this to stark light.
If you work at a computer, drive or get public transport to work, and don’t engage in physical activity in the evening, then, of course, you aren’t going to lose lots of weight during the day. Meanwhile, your body won’t be adapted to an active lifestyle.
So the “way in” – the way to start fixing that – is to look at this routine and to find opportunities to improve it by adding small amounts of exercise. That means walking to the bus stop or getting off a stop early. It might mean using a standing desk to check your emails, or it might mean going for a very light walk at lunch. It might mean parking a little further away from your destination and walking.
These small changes add up to bigger effects, but what’s more, is that they force adaptations in your body. And from your perspective, your day will look very similar because you have fitted the movement into your day in logical ways.
The Takehome
The takehome is this: if you’re out of shape right now, that’s probably symptomatic of an overly busy and overly stressful routine. That means your lifestyle is probably inefficient, and there are likely things you can do to win back time, energy, and vigor. At the very least, you can find smarter ways to fit the new things in that you want to do.
This is an entirely different way to go about getting into shape, and it is FAR more effective.
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