One way some people make a person feel guilty about exercising is by saying, “Hey, all you need is 3-4 hours out of 168 hours a week to get fitter or bigger or stronger or more sexy. beyond comprehension. And hey, if you can’t dedicate 2.4% of your time to your health, how serious are you? “Why does it seem not so easy?

I am the father of 2 girls with whom I want to spend most of my free and waking time. I have a 50 hour a week job that seems to stretch to 60 hours most weeks. I have 2 websites that I enjoy working on (my new hobbies).

And I’m trying to make up for about 6 lost years of Ho-Ho’s and Twinkies.

And finding 4 hours a week to exercise is not proving easy. But I am progressing and this is how:

1. I consider that the advice to work constantly at a certain time is not relevant. In a given week, I can exercise at 6 a.m. M. One day, at 9 p.m. M. Next time and at 4:30 p.m. M. The next. It is not so much about making time to exercise, but about using the time available to exercise. That means being flexible.

2. My exercise frequency is to exercise every other day. But again, life gets in the way and finding those 3 or 4 hours a week is not that easy. So, I have missed some workouts. In fact, it’s not a big deal. If I lose a day, I lose a day. I don’t get negative about myself. I am exercising to be stronger and healthier for life, not an arbitrary 90-day period.

3. In direct contradiction to the last statement, a goal is needed, but that goal must be long-term. For me that should be a year. Think about it: if you want to gain 15 pounds of lean muscle while losing 20 pounds of fat, what would be more feasible? a net profit of 1.5 pounds a month or 5 pounds a month? It is the approach of the tortoise versus the hare.

4. Being flexible shouldn’t mean volunteering about it. In keeping with having a long-term goal, you should have intermediate markers to measure your progress. There are many methods, but a time-tested tool is taking pictures of yourself. By taking pictures of yourself at 30-day intervals, you can visually see your progress and use it as a motivational tool to find that extra hour to exercise.

Consider these approaches as you work to balance life, work, and your health. How you balance all of your life goals is not that important as it balances all of them. And if something is overlooked from time to time, it is not a problem. Just keep your eyes on the big picture and keep going.