Caring Strangers Effect Positive Outcomes and True Friends Are a Warm Refuge. Those are the two ideals we highlighted in Part 1 and Part 2 of our Excy startup blog posts series to capture the silver lining in breaking a leg as we prepare to bring our portable exercise bike to market.
As we mention in those posts, launching a startup is often referred to as “giving birth to a company”. Our goal in this Excy blog post series is to highlight how important relationships throughout our day-to-day life can also become part of the fabric of a startup’s core ideals.
Last, but certainly not least, in our third and final post in this series, we will focus on why ultimately, Family Matters Most.
As mentioned in the previous Excy posts, perfect strangers and great friends are awe-inspiring. But, in the day-to-day grind of having two full-time working parents, a child with a busy schedule, and one parent holding down the couch with a broken leg and a blood clot, family has come to the rescue with true grit! My husband and son have become the kings of stepping and fetching, including doing all the stuff I do, plus their normal responsibilities. In-laws, my sister, and parents have helped beyond words of appreciation especially when my husband travels–which has been frequently since that lovely day at the skating center that ended with a rod, 10 screws and a plate holding my leg together.
I’ve never been in a situation to have to be taken care of as an adult for an extended period of time. Nor have I been exposed to a consistent observation of seeing the amazing responsibility that care-takers assume on a day-to-day basis. Being in a doctor’s office 3 to 5 days a week over the last month (mostly related to the blood clot), has given me an opportunity to talk to older grandkids taking care of their elderly grandparents. Spouses taking care of spouses. Adult children taking care of elderly parents. Siblings taking care of siblings. It has given me a small glimpse into the plight of those who are battling injury, disease, and disabilities. For me, I’m lucky. My broken leg and blood clot are temporary. For so many others, the situation is permanent and requires a long extended period of time or even a lifetime of support, love, and sacrifice where the family likely carries the biggest load of day-to-day responsibilities. It’s been very touching to observe (and makes me nervous about our country being prepared to take care of the aging Baby Boomer generation, but I will save that for a future post).
So, what does the important role of family have to do with Excy and a portable exercise bike?
About 80 percent of Americans don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity and obesity rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the world with two out of every three Americans considered to be overweight or obese. This challenge is also having an impact on children with nearly 1 in 3 children in the United States considered overweight or obese.
We’ve already highlighted research showing that when friends enlist the help of each other to exercise together, they get better results. It’s one of the main reasons we will strongly encourage people to use our portable exercise bike with friends and co-workers at a park, at a favorite lunch spot, a conference room or anywhere else their heart desires.
However, as supportive as friends are in accomplishing personal health objectives, our biggest day-to-day cheerleaders and support system will ultimately be our immediate family. Whether you have small children at home, tweens and teens, or if empty nesters or retired, evidence shows that long-term healthful behavior changes are most successful when the entire family gets involved.
This is one of the reasons we’re so excited about Excy. Not only can anyone easily and conveniently use the portable exercise bike during an everyday routine while spending time with a spouse or other family members (watching TV, during home work, sideline of their kid’s sporting event, etc.), but kids can do it too! Children aren’t likely to change their diet and activity habits on their own. It’s up to parents to make it easier for their family to make healthy choices and research suggests that the earlier kids learn healthy behaviors, the better.
One moment that absolutely made the decision to pursue bringing Excy to market was when my 9-year-old son asked if he could do Excy while watching TV. Another was when one of my best workouts was while playing Uno with him. I asked him “Is it distracting that I’m working out while we’re playing? Do you feel like I’m engaged?” His response “It’s cool, you’re working out and we’re having fun.”
Excy offers one piece of equipment that the entire family, even those with packed schedules and injuries can enjoy together to make healthy exercise habits easy and fun. Whether fitness beginners or an athletic family or living with an injury, it’s the perfect way for anyone to make their health and exercise a priority multiple days a week at home while spending quality time with the people you care about most.
Sure, you still might want to escape for a run, a bike ride, or trip to the gym. But for the 4 out of 6 of us who never use our gym membership or just feel too busy to exercise, the Excy portable exercise bike just might be the answer to the majority of your workout aspirations and make it easier to fit fitness into your busy life. After all, we know Fat Shaming Doesn’t Work and Excy is an awesome way to show your family how important exercise is to living healthy. Nothing like leading by example.