If you are anything like me, you probably resigned yourself long ago to the idea that one day your lack of activity was going to catch up with you. Belly fat was in the cards. Let's face it, with the time we waste commuting, and the long hours spend in front of a monitor (both at work and at home where we try to make ends meet), finding the time to work out at a gym seems like an impossible luxury. Somewhere along the way, that just stopped being the number one priority for you. It did for me. I always thought I would catch up. One day.
But instead of me catching up, it is time that is catching up with me. Along with the belly fat that I can prod at, and joke about with my son, there is that other change in my body. The one I cannot laugh about, and which I am much more resistant to resign myself. Man boobs.
I can deal with the whitening hairs, and the general loss of muscle tone that comes with inactivity as I push from my thirties into my forties. But man boobs$%: Ugh. If there is one thing about my body that is going to promote self-hatred, it is those fleshy outward sloping mounds that are taking over my pectoral area. They have got to go!
Well, I am sure you do not need me to tell you that the optimal solution to this is to carve out time from your day and head to the gym five times a week. Hit the treadmill, improve your cardiovascular system, pump iron, and challenge your pectoral muscles with bench presses and weighted pulley work. But if you really were able to find the time to head to the gym you would be too busy huffing and puffing to read this article.
No, what you need is a more realistic solution. You are going to have to get resourceful and intelligently utilize the little time you *can* set aside for attacking this problem. There are two things I am going to suggest to get you started. The first of these is simple enough.
Choose a time of the day when you can set aside 15 minutes to yourself. It might be the time slot 8:45 to 9.00 PM (do not make it too late or tiredness will tend to triumph over will). Whatever the time, stick to it religiously, and do not let anything else get in your way. You are going to allocate this time for simple chest exercises.
But let me ask you something first. You devote 15 minutes a day to dental hygiene, right$%: Have you ever gone a day without brushing your teeth$%: No$%: And why not$%: Because you dread the thought of your teeth falling out one day. Well, your pectorals are falling right now. And they are a lot more noticeable than bad teeth.
You simply need to recognize that the same commitment you give to maintaining your teeth needs to be given to maintaining your chest. Heck, it is actually better than that, because you can improve your chest with work, but only your dentist has the same power over your teeth.
Use those 15 minutes of your evening, or morning, to do pushups. If it has been a while since you did real physical activity, place your hands on the arm of your couch and do shallow push ups. You will find that this can still be challenging!
As you get stronger over the weeks, widen your hand position to increase the amount of chest involvement. After a while you will be able to move to the floor. It may take 4 to 8 weeks to start to see noticeable results, but really that is no time at all.
The second thing I am going to do is tell you to stop buying junk food. No matter how well you eat there is surely something in your cupboards that you know you should not be eating. Maybe it is ice cream, maybe it is Snickers bars. Toss the comfort food. If it is in the house you are going to eat it sooner or later. Also, cut out the late night snacks. Nothing after 10 PM. If you starve your body just a little bit it is going to help in the long run.
Follow this regimen for 8 weeks and you WILL see a difference in your body. The trick, of course, is to get started. Then just stay on track for results.
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