THE BUSY MAN’S GUIDE TO FITNESS – How To Make Time For Fitness, Family And Friends

COURAGEOUS Men’s Fitness happens when you choose to have an active lifestyle with your spouse, child or the one you love. I’m Jason Rhymer, the Training Department editor for Faith & Fitness Magazine. I’m here to help you with fitness ideas and inspiration so you can have the courage to be the totally fit man that God wants you to be.

1. YOU’RE NOT AS BUSY AS YOU THINK

Hey there, I’m Jason Rhymer, the Training Department editor for Faith & Fitness Magazine. I also own a business and have a family. So, like you, life is busy for me too. How do we find the courage to make and keep the important commitments in life? COURAGEOUS Men’s Fitness and this Busy Man’s Guide To Fitness is loaded with ideas and resources to help. Sure it takes discipline to work hard and make it happen. But, like every good workout the recovery phase is where growth occurs. So, don’t just find time to exercise with your children and wife. Recover the time, the conversations, the genuine interest and the love.

Everyone is busy, and some guys talk themselves into thinking they are busier than they really are. This guide outlines some proven programs you can do anywhere and within any range of time from four minutes to one hour. However, flexible exercise time doesn’t matter if you’ve already decided that you are too busy to make this happen. Even a four minute program is too long if you tell yourself you don’t have time to do it. I promise you, no matter what your schedule is, you can find dads with more kids, more work hours, and more limitations, who still find a way to fit training into their schedule. If we were all honest with ourselves, we are not as busy as we let on. It is a matter of rearranging priorities and managing the same 24 hours that we are all given. I am busy, but I also know that I spend too much time managing my fantasy sports teams and browsing the internet.

2. DON’T’ LET YOUR PERCEPTION OF YOURSELF KEEP YOU FROM BEING ACTIVE WITH YOUR CHILD

One big stumbling block results from the fact that you are not the same guy you were at 18 or 23 or 28. While children may have trouble seeing a more vulnerable dad, it is more likely that your own embarrassment is what gets in the way. This could be a huge mistake. How healthy would it be for your child to see you struggle with a physical challenge, and with proper training, overcome it in a few weeks or months? Think about the life skills that could teach (perseverance, accepting weaknesses and working on it, facing failure and choosing to not give up)!

Of course, the age of your child has a lot to do with these feelings. Toddlers and infants don’t care. They just want daddy to be there with them no matter the activity. Teenagers might be different because of what their friends might say about how dad runs or even the idea of them doing something enjoyable with their parents. Either way, you have to recognize that your child doesn’t expect you to be perfect, so just because you have added a few pounds since high school or you don’t move like you once did, that should not keep you from being active with your child.

3. STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT – JUST START DOING SOMETHING TODAY

This guide is going to be fun, because we are going to break every rule that the popular fitness magazines propose. This should be very liberating for the dad who has said this to himself, “I can’t get fit because my diet is awful, I don’t get enough sleep, and I don’t have time to get to the gym.” Let’s be honest men, if we can’t do everything perfectly, we often don’t do it all. Maybe it’s a lack of confidence or a fear that we will fall off the pedestal in our kid’s eyes, but we have to get over this to reach our goals.

There are 5 common reasons men don’t exercise with their children, spouse and those closest to them. They are in fact 5 EXCUSES TO NOT EXERCISE. Check them out now and see how to overcome these obstacles.

EXERCISE IDEAS FOR BUSY MEN AND THEIR CHILDREN

Ready to get going and have some fun? I’ve organized fitness activities into age categories. Just select the age group of the child with whom you will exercise today and get started.

One note about the focus of this guide: all of these ideas can be done at home or the local park with minimal equipment. Sure it would be great for you, your wife and your child to join a gym or get a trainer and go together. I know how well that works because I have a great father/daughter team that frequents my bootcamps. For now, these ideas will help you to get going quickly with minimal start-up costs, time and resources.

Also, there may be some activities in the toddler section that your older kids would enjoy, so be sure to read the entire guide and see which ideas work the best for your situation.