Exercise. There isn’t a person on the planet who doesn’t know that exercise is good for you. The benefits are huge. It burns calories. It helps with weight control. It increases bone density. It’s great for your heart. The list goes on and on.

Exercise… make it a priority

The problem most people have with exercise is lack of consistency. On again, off again. Start, stop. Ask any person who regularly goes to a health club. The worst time is January. New Year’s resolutions jam the machines and the parking lot. But wait until February and it peters off quickly. By April things are back to normal.

Anyone who has lived in our neighbourhood knows The Shuffler, my kids’ name for her. This woman is amazing. Not for her athletic ability. She runs—shuffles, really—in slow motion. Up and down the neighbourhood streets. Every day around eight in the morning. Minus 40 with wind chill, she’s out there. Plus 35, there she is again. Pouring rain, out doing her circuit.

And this has been going on for years, five or six at least. This woman is a machine.

Now there are many things about her routine that aren’t ideal from a pure exercise standpoint. She’s run at the same pace forever, never speeding up. She doesn’t get any anaerobic work. Judging from her frame, she doesn’t do any strength training.

But that’s not the point of today’s post.

The point is, she shows up. Every day. She makes exercise a priority in her life and has the attitude of a Nike commercial—Just do it!

What do you have to do to make exercise an important part of your life?

It all comes down to prioritisation. Make an appointment with yourself. Three times per week. Every day. Whatever your level of commitment—but do it. Make it a habit and stick with it.

We drive by The Shuffler several times a week. Each time I smile. For the first few years, it was at the shuffle itself—she does have a funny gait. But recently it’s been a smile of admiration. A smile of respect.