The No-Excuses Guide to Physical Activity

Don’t let your busy schedule, age or other limitations keep you from improving sleep, mood, smarts and overall health

Image: Pexels/Julia Larson

When I write about the health benefits of physical activity, readers often comment about the impediments of busy lives, old age, chronic pain or other limitations. Exercise can indeed be extremely challenging for some people. But physical activity — the term I prefer — can take many forms, all beneficial, mostly not that hard, and often loads of fun.

If you are able to move, then don’t let time, age, pain, or ability get in your way. With a modest amount of activity, you can …

• Improve your sleep
• Reduce stress and better manage emotions
• Lower the risk of heart attack, cancer and other diseases
• Sharpen memory and thinking skills and reduce the risk of dementia
• Alleviate chronic pain
• Find more joy

Physical activity will make you more productive and better at the things you have to do, so you’ll have more time and energy to do the things you want to do. Excuses will evaporate.

If you’re totally sedentary or have any underlying health condition, see a medical…