Ten minutes countsHabits

unbry

Ten minutes counts

A short book about skipping exercise because you can't do the full session, and so doing none

17 chapters10,785 wordsAbout 49 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You mean to exercise. You have a picture of what a proper session…2 min
1Twenty-five minutes on a TuesdayIt's Tuesday, and the plan was the gym at six. You pay thirty-four pounds a month for the gym. Your bag has been packed and sitting in the hall since…3 min
2Why "properly" feels rightIf you believe that twenty minutes isn't worth bothering with, you didn't invent that. You were told it, and by good authorities. This chapter takes the…2 min
3"It wouldn't do anything"The central belief is that an amount of exercise below the threshold is physiologically pointless. The research answers this one fairly directly. Hannah…3 min
4"It has to be in one go"The old guidelines had a second rule inside them, which was that activity only counted in bouts of ten minutes or more. It's worth knowing where that came…3 min
5"I wouldn't feel any better for it"Set aside how long you live. Most people exercise, when they do, because of how it makes them feel that day. It clears the head and takes the edge off a…3 min
6"By the time I've got changed"Of the five reasons in chapter 2, the fourth was the overhead. A gym session has fixed costs. If travel, changing and showering take forty minutes between…3 min
7"A short one is cheating"This is the fifth reason, the one about standards, and I said I respected it most. You don't like token efforts. You'd rather do nothing and be honest…3 min
8How one missed Tuesday becomes a missed monthSo far I've treated each skipped day as a separate event. But you'll have noticed that they cluster. One missed Tuesday tends to take Thursday and…3 min
9It doesn't have to hurtBehind the threshold there's often a second belief, about effort. It says that exercise only works if it's hard, and that you should finish red-faced…3 min
10"But I want to get fit"I've been making the case for ten minutes for several chapters. There's a fair objection to all of it, and I owe you a direct answer. "I'm not exercising…3 min
11Where the ten minutes goesA rule that says "do ten minutes" is easy to agree with and easy to forget. Short sessions have a weakness that long ones don't. Because they're small…3 min
12"Strength needs a gym"So far I've mostly talked about the kind of exercise that gets you breathing, such as walking, stairs and cycling. The guidelines have a second part that…3 min
13The decisionUp to now I've asked you to notice things and count things. This chapter asks you to decide something. It comes this late on purpose. If I'd opened with…3 min
14Colds, bad knees and weeks that fall apartThe rule is simple. Some situations complicate it, and I should be plain about them. When you're ill. The floor doesn't apply to days when you're unwell.…3 min
15Tuesday againHere's the scene from chapter 1 again. It's an example of how it might go, and I'm not promising it. It's Tuesday, and the plan was the gym at six. The…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information. It isn't medical advice, and it's no substitute for a doctor or physiotherapist who knows your situation. The NHS…4 min

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