By making changes to your life, a procedure or system that are so small you cannot fail, there is no need for procrastination. — Nicholas Ritchie, “Kaizen: Accomplishing Big Goals with Tiny Steps”
Working 8–12 hours straight, your brain starts to get foggy, your neck and upper back starts to ache, and you’re feeling sluggish. What if we try this circuit to do Monday through Friday as a small challenge? I’ll explain the benefits after. Let’s just do it!
Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise. Repeat circuit 4x.
- Air Squat
2) Tricep Dip
3) Alternating Reverse Lunge (Left and right reverse lunge = 1 repetition)
4) Push Ups, or Modified Push Ups
5) Shoulder Tap in Plank Position (Left and right shoulder tap = 1 repetition)
How are you feeling? Do you feel refreshed without feeling out of breath? Doesn’t it feel better than grabbing those Flaming Hot Cheetos?
Now, let’s get into the philosophy of Kaizen, and why I chose those exercises for you.
Kaizen is the Japanese art of continuous improvement. We set small, realistic and attainable goals that are failure-proof. That means, they’re so easy to do, we feel accomplished after doing them! That awesome feeling you have snowballs into a habit. Easy, right?
This circuit will probably take 5–10 minutes in the comfort of your office. You can even start a movement and have your co-workers join you on this challenge. The more the merrier! This is a full body-circuit, specifically called peripheral heart action, where we alternate lower body exercises with upper body exercises to promote blood flow, and burn more calories.
The motivational outlook I have for you is to make “continuous movement” a part of your life. Yes, we want to feel confident in our clothes and look great. But if we focus on feeling great, exercise will become addicting and a habit that will be hard to break.
Originally published at medium.com