Physical activity is good for your health. Even the most basic levels of physical activity are better than doing nothing. Unfortunately, for too many people regular physical activity is not part of the daily schedule. The question is why? Why not do something that is known to improve health and make you feel better?

The answer that I hear most often comes down to time. With family and work commitments, there is simply not enough time during the day. While I understand this answer, as I also know very well the needs of work and family my follow-up is the obvious - Make fitness and health a priority and schedule your exercise the same way you schedule everything else that is important. Time and health are the two most valuable things that we will ever have and they are interrelated. In fact, I challenge anyone to come up with something in life that does not require time and health to get the most out of a moment. Like the elite athlete, we all need to learn how to put our body and fitness first.

To be the very best in the world requires an extreme commitment of time to every aspect of the preparation process, in particular physical preparation. In fact, without the appropriate fitness reaching the top of the sports world is impossible. It is this focus on fitness that the rest of us can take from the athlete developmental process and use to create the basis for our success in life. Prepare your body to perform at its very best every day. Like the athlete with the goal of finishing on top and at the very least entering every competition prepared to do his or her very best, we should all approach life similarly.

In the very beginning, committing to your fitness is easier than you may think. Try standing up from your desk every 20 minutes and taking a moderate intensity walk for 2 minutes or a 4-minute vigorous walk every hour. To help remember, set an alarm. Standing up and moving throughout the day will help you feel better and it will positively impact your health. Remember that just getting up from your chair and moving does not have to be considered a workout. You can stay in your work clothes, but you may need comfortable shoes. There is a balance between working at a desk, getting up to do some moderate intensity walking and then doing a focused workout. Once you grasp this easier concept of adding movement to your day, the next step is to actually schedule specific time for exercise.

With daily work and family needs, I know that scheduling time for yourself is hard, but so is reaching the top of the podium in any sport or in any aspect of your life. It takes work to be the very best and it takes work to develop your health and fitness. Given that we only have one body and one chance at life, take the champion’s approach and make the most out of each moment. A major driving force behind every champion’s performance is the fear of losing, what is your greatest fear? Perhaps if you looked at the downsides of not taking care of your fitness, maybe the fear of poor health and a shorter life will motivate you to take time each day for exercise.