|
Some people get very creative when they hear the word “exercise” — coming up with a list of excuses as to why they can’t do it. The old standby, of course, is, “I don’t have the time.”
But if you ask some of the local professionals with demanding schedules, having time is more of a mental, rather than physical, barrier.
“Time and money have to do with value. For people who say they don’t have the money or the time, it means in their priority system, it doesn’t rate high,” says Steven Sadowsky, who owns a prosthodontist practice in Poulsbo.
Sadowsky has been running for more than 30 years and used to do marathons and half-marathons. Now, he runs regularly and plays racquetball to stay fit.
“I started running because it felt good to run. My body became so sensitive that if I don’t run, it doesn’t feel good,” he says. “I feel it’s as critical for my emotional health as for my sense of being physically fit.”
Sadowsky runs outside, usually on back roads, and often runs to the gym, works out, then runs back. He says it’s not unusual for him to “run off” a cold — if he feels getting sick, he’ll start running intensely, and usually gets rid of it. He runs rain or shine, and sometimes takes his dog along.
Sadowsky counts many benefits of physical activity: It helps people be more in tune with their bodies, it helps build resilience and possibly prevents injuries as people get older. And, for those excuse-prone, the biggest benefit is… time. “I don’t think many people know how they’ll feel after they run for a while,” he says. “They’ll have more energy and create time.”
Marta Costa, a Port Orchard dentist, found a good way around the time constraint. Although she considers herself “more of a night person,” she gets up at 5 in the morning to run 4-6 miles, either outside if the weather is good or at the gym when it rains. She also likes to bike, but finds it more challenging to work that into her schedule as a mom to a 5-year-old son. She has participated in several bike races, including the Seattle to Portland race.
Costa had been doing ballroom dancing but felt that wasn’t giving her enough exercise. So a couple of years ago, she started lifting weights. Then, about a year and a half ago, her dental hygienist got her interested in running and helped her get started.
At first, she could barely run for two minutes. “In a month, I was able to do 5K, that’s what gave me the courage to continue on,” she says. “From August to December, I went from running barely two minutes to doing 6 miles.”
Costa lost 36 pounds, gained a lot of energy, and no longer has the neck and lower back pains she used to get from her work. “When I work out in the morning, I feel so much better all day,” she says. “It’s addictive… I used to say, ‘I just don’t have the time.’ There is always more time — you can get up earlier… It’s a matter of priorities. I’ve gained so many benefits.”
Fred Depee, a Realtor with John L Scott in Port Orchard, hit his 40s when he realized he “better start working out.” “I was tired of being fat and out of shape,” he says. “(Working out) was an insurance policy for enjoying my later years.”
It was tough going at first, as he struggled to get into a routine. “The biggest thing, which is even true today, is to make sure it’s a habit, and you do it even when you don’t want to,” he says.
Depee started by “rolling out of bed in the morning and doing pushups.” He started with about three, progressed to eight, 10, and so on. Soon, he decided to lift weights at the gym — and at first “was grateful I could even lift the bar.”
That was back in the early 90s; since then, Depee has lost 35 pounds, gained strength and improved his breathing. For the last four years, he has had a “workout buddy,” which “has made it 10 times more enjoyable.” It has also made him accountable: He feels obligated to go when he doesn’t want to, because he doesn’t want to disappoint his workout partner. The accountability factor works two ways and has also inspired his workout partner, who is now on a track to be lifting 300 pounds.
Depee’s advice to beginners is simply to get started. “Winning is beginning. You win the minute you start trying. Make yourself go, no matter what, and after a couple of months you’ll want to go — it’s a matter of developing a new habit. Once you create the habit, the habit will create you.”
Carl Cramer, president of Farrell’s Home Health, has a similar outlook. “Make the time to do it,” he says. “It’s important for all aspects of your life.”
Physical activity has helped him be strong not only physically but also mentally. With a group of business friends, Cramer goes biking regularly as well as climbing. Every Saturday morning, depending on the weather, the group bikes 30 to 70 miles around Kitsap and North Mason, trying to choose roads with less traffic.
Each person also bikes individually and does other things to stay in shape. “It’s one of those things you have to set aside and you have to do,” he says. “I’ve always been physically active. It’s part of my life.”
Cramer, who has been biking since the ‘80s, also goes on weeklong trips with the group to places such as Eastern Washington and Oregon. “When you’re doing it with a group of friends, it puts a little pressure to keep going; it’s a support group,” he says.
Derek Boyden, president of Olympic Surgical Associates, has a group of friends for climbing. He has been climbing since 1992, and tries to do it year round — rock climbing in the summer, and alpine climbing in the winter and spring.
He has climbed the local mountains and also travels to Canada, Montana and Wyoming for ice climbing. To be able to climb, however, Boyden has to be in great physical shape, so he runs, lifts weights, and does other exercise. He has a climbing wall in his garage, and also goes hiking in bad weather. “A lot of mountaineering you do is (about) mental toughness,” he says. “Climbing is part of the big picture, a lifestyle; you always stay in shape so you can go climbing.”
Boyden says he has to grab the opportunity for physical activity whenever he can, whether that means getting up at 4 or 5 in the morning or working around the family schedule on the weekend. He enjoys hiking or playing tennis with his wife, Nancy, although she has her own passion, bicycling.
Boyden says physical fitness is a quality of life issue, and it’s part of who he is. For example, he says, being a surgeon to him is not who he is, but what he does for a living. “These other things (being active) is who I am,” he says.
His answer to the “lack of time excuse” is, “I don’t think there is an excuse for lack of time.” He recalls riding a stationary bike while studying for his medical school exams. “It’s just a question of what you do with the time available,” he says. |
