Fit exercise into your busy schedule. That is as absurd as saying that there are eight days in a week. Why? First, you’ve never exercised before or occasionally played a sport. Second, you’ve never been into the fitness crowd and third, you’re far too busy to even think about exercise. In other words, you're just not into it.

Seeing what your friends go through with no tangible results, you cling to the notion that your total lack of interest is justified. You are not the least bit inclined to engage in these circus-like contortions or do those mindless freestyle strokes in the water. That would only encroach into your already busy schedule of juggling family, home, and career. These three combined are your exercises.

Before tackling the idea of getting fit or including exercise in your schedule, it might be better if we start with the concept of self-assessment and then familiarize ourselves with the disease-prevention aspect of exercise.

Once you have accepted the fact that exercise is good for your health, then you can consider some of the ways you can include it in your life.

Lifespan and physical appearance

The average life span is 80 years, give or take a few years. The truth is, a significant number of people look and feel 80 before their time.

Conditions such as diabetes, nervous tension, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease are silently brewing.

If fitness authorities had it their way, they would have created legislation to make exercise mandatory as soon as a baby leaves the cradle, not during the teenage years when obesity is likely to strike.

But fitness should not be associated with any age. You can start at 10 or at 30 – even at 50 or 60. Fitness should not be seen as the cure for an illness you already have but as preventative maintenance.

Assessing your fitness level

Ask yourself:

· Do my joints hurt before or after any physical exertion?

· Am I constantly worried and anxious?

· Do I feel tired and sluggish most of the time?

· Do I suffer from mood swings?

· How am I doing?

· Is walking and climbing stairs difficult?

· Do I have problems concentrating?

Note, however, that other exercise or fitness gurus will have their own parameters or indices for assessing your body’s overall state.

Turning you into a fitness buff

After going through the assessment phase, you’re probably experiencing a ‘rude awakening’. Slowly but surely. In fact ‘slowly but surely’ was probably what motivated Denise Austin to come up with her popular one-minute exercises.

· Waking up in the morning feeling refreshed

· Feeling more optimistic about recreation

· Sleeping more soundly at night.

The benefits above are general. Let’s examine the more specific benefits of exercise on specific parts of the body.

28 million Americans have osteoporosis. 80 percent are women. Only a quarter of that figure know they have the condition and only half are being treated. The annual osteoporosis bill to the United States is $14 billion.

Studies have shown that sufficient amounts of calcium and regular exercise build strong bones.

While genetics play a major role in developing the risks of osteoporosis, individuals can control some factors that will help prevent the problem.

Starting an exercise programme while still young, even if you live in the fast lane, will help you avoid bone disease.

People are still debating how much exercise an individual needs, but for people with type 2 diabetes, exercising three or more times a week improves fitness and blood sugar levels. If you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight, exercise done with the following parameters would be of tremendous benefit; the intensity of 60-70 per cent maximal heart rate, with a duration of 30 or more minutes, 4-7 days each week.

There have been hundreds of documented reports that reveal how people’s lives have significantly improved, and the remarkable transformation that their bodies experience after they made the decision to take ownership of their weight and fat problems. Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time your friends and colleagues spend in the gym? You think, "That’s almost three hours – three hours I could devote to nurturing my clients and expanding my sales territory.”

The bad news is, being penny-wise and pound-foolish does not work in any circumstance, especially where fitness and health are concerned.

A simple exercise programme

Instead of ignoring exercise altogether, here’s a suggestion for integrating it into your busy schedule. Think of exercise like you think of a major task in the office. Break it up into tinier components.

Instead of spending two hours in the gym or on the tennis court like your friends do, ask your trainer to divide your workout programme.

· Suggestion A

30 minutes four times a week, i.e. 20 minutes cardio, 10 minutes weights (1 muscle group, e.g. legs)

· Suggestion B

30 minutes three times a week

Mon: 20 minutes cardio 10 minutes stretching

Tues: 20 minutes weights (2 muscle groups, e.g. back and abdominals) 10 minutes of cardio

Wed: 20 minutes cardio 10 minutes of weights (two muscle groups, e.g. triceps or chest, biceps or shoulders)

· Suggestion C

20 minutes 5 days a week

Week 1: All cardio

Week 2: Weights

Week 3: Cardio on Mon/Wed/Fri

Week 4: Weights on Tues/Thurs

The writer is the founder of Builder Bangs, a multi-layer fitness and well-being company that focuses on fitness workouts, bodybuilding, taichi, Kungfu, and meditation.