Q: My husband sent me an article about a daily five-minute fix to get fitter, stronger and have better posture. Can anything good really happen in five minutes or less?
There’s some cryptic messaging happening between your spouse and you, but it’s important for you to consider why he’s sent you a routine that takes less time than choosing what to watch on DStv Catch-up.
Many people claim not to have time to exercise or eat properly, and therefore justify being out of shape. I write that with love and from a place of experience.
I lived in Randburg, worked in Centurion (long before remote working was ever a thing that irritated controlling bosses), commuted up to three hours a day, came home to two young children and a spouse, shared cooking, homework and bath time duties, dealt with after-hour queries — which in a start-up environment happens all the time as founders of these things don’t sleep — and still did a four-day-a-week push-pull split. Towards the end, I added Saturday morning runs.
Does this make me special? Of course not. The point is that I defined physical exercise as a life priority, and come hell or high water, a boss from hell or roadworks on the N14, I was going to exercise.
That’s the mindset that changes bodies. It’s not nice to read, but it’s true. People spend more time browsing Instagram in their “me time” or staring at the freezer than a focused person spends doing HIIT intervals. Trust me, I’ve been on the other side of the fence too where finding 40 minutes to try burn off a year’s worth of Premier League lagers was just too much to bear.
“Five-minute fix” intrigued the old engine room and so I googled, and found, what I presume, is the article your spouse sent to you. It’s great and I agree with every word.
End of story? No, just the beginning. Five-minute fix conjures images of YouTube videos such as “clever hacks to find the light switch in the dark”.
That’s exactly what it is, and as the author of the enjoyable article in The Guardian makes clear, the exercises will “help”, “work”, or, in reality, set you on a path of doing this more regularly and for longer. The article highlights posture, where it suggests prone press and Pilates swimming, core, where crunches and planks are suggested, an extra slow burpee for mobility, static push-up and squat for strength, hip exercises such as “figure four” and child’s pose for hip flexibility and kettlebell swings for fat loss.
I agree that every one of those exercises is wonderful and works. Doing this will no doubt have benefits for you, and if you are sedentary, you may even see changes. If you don’t, you will certainly start to move and feel better.
But beware the quick fix. It’s often tempting to hold out hope for a shortcut that everyone else in the history of humankind has somehow missed. Our lean prehistoric ancestors weren’t ripped to the bone doing Pilates swimming for five minutes a day.
Start with five minutes a day. Get a feel for moving and hopefully you’ll enjoy it and find time for more exercise. The American Heart Association and the US department of health & human services both suggest 150 minutes of cardio a week (30 minutes, five times a week) and at least two days’ strength training. You can’t hack yourself into those sorts of numbers during an advert break or while waiting for the kettle to boil.
However, success is not determined by what you do or how long you choose to do it. Of course, that’s important, but it won’t matter if you quit after three weeks. Finding your “why” (for committing to exercise come hell or high water) should precede your “how”. What’s your “why”? Now that’s a five-minute fix that could well set you onto a path of achieving your strength, fitness, body fat and posture goals.
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