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Podcast Pilot: The Magic Pill, Your Daily Dose Of Get-Up-And-Go

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Here it is! The pilot episode of The Magic Pill -- an audio injection of get-up-and-go. It's 10 punchy minutes of new science, big ideas, human stories, quick tips, and a grand finale of some gotta-move music you might never have heard otherwise. Click on the play button above to listen.

Click the image to sign up for WBUR's new exercise podcast. It's a daily dose of get-up-and-go, mixing stories, science and music, for 21 days starting Sept. 1.
Click the image to sign up for WBUR's new exercise podcast. It's a daily dose of get-up-and-go, mixing stories, science and music, for 21 days starting Sept. 1.

This is just a taste. You’ll get the full treatment — a 21-day podcast challenge — beginning Sept. 1. But in the meanwhile, this pilot episode will give you a sense of what it’s all about: The shift in mindset from seeing exercise as a chore and a pain to seeing it as a gift, a treat, even a joy. Getting into that mode not only feels better, it works better at keeping us going, says fitness motivation expert Michelle Segar. We draw quite a bit on her new book, "No Sweat: How The Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You A Lifetime of Fitness."

If you haven't signed up for The Magic Pill yet, you can do it by clicking here. Once the 21 days begin, we'll send you a daily email along with the podcast, featuring bonus stories, visuals and pointers.

For example: Check out the Magic-Pill-style tricks below. Podcast co-host Dr. Eddie Phillips is director of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and he's chock full of sneaky ways to slip more activity into your life. At his office at the Boston VA, he demonstrated a half-dozen moves even cubicle-dwellers may be able to use. (OK, yes, your co-workers may laugh at you at first, but then they'll envy your glow....)

His point isn't to do these specific exercises, or buy a bike-desk; it's to demonstrate that you can slip dribs and drabs of exercise — even strength training — into your life, something like mortar between the bricks of your bigger tasks. Much more on that later...

Dr. Eddie Phillips squats as he talks on the phone at his office. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dr. Eddie Phillips squats as he talks on the phone at his office. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dr. Eddie Phillips rides an exercise bike as he works in his office at the VA Boston Healthcare System. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Eddie rides an exercise bike as he works in his office at the VA Boston Healthcare System. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dr. Eddie Phillips stretches as he talks on the phone at his office at the VA Boston Healthcare System. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Eddie stretches as he talks. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dr. Eddie Phillips uses resistance tubing to work his arms at his office. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Eddie uses cheap resistance tubing to work his arms. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dr. Eddie Phillips does a hip stretch at his office at the VA Boston Healthcare System. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Eddie does a hip stretch. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Headshot of Carey Goldberg

Carey Goldberg Editor, CommonHealth
Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth section.

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