Women Need 60 Minutes of Exercise Daily: Can You Make the Time?

To simply maintain healthy body weight, women need 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every single day, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The advice is based on a 13-year analysis of more than 34,000 women with a mean age of 54.2 years and a normal diet.

If you’re reading this, you probably care more than most people about your appearance and health, so you should definitely be motivated to make the time for 60 minutes of exercise every day. However, going to the health club for an hour each day isn’t exactly practical, nor is it exciting; so how can we put this advice into practice?

A few tips….

1. Do 30 minutes of high intensity exercise rather than 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise. If you’re healthy enough, push yourself harder and burn those calories faster.

2. Gain some muscle with strength training and you’ll burn more fat. Try the kettlebells.

3.  When the weather is nice don’t drive to the health club. Run there or ride your bike. It’s a great warm-up for your workout and adds a few extra minutes before and after gym time.

4. Stop searching for that perfect parking spot. Park at the outer edge of the lot and walk.

5. Ask your boss about implementing a workplace fitness program. Make sure you mention the surgeon general’s recommendation to create healthier work sites. (Tell your co-workers to stop bringing all those cookies and donuts too.)

6. Know the difference between performance and appearance. When you evaluate your fitness and health achievements, it’s easy to focus on body weight and areas of excess fat. If you are faster or stronger, congratulate yourself on that and remember there are solutions to improve appearance when nothing else works.

7. Exercise should be fun. If your current routine feels like pulling teeth, try something new and always try to keep an upbeat, positive attitude.