7 Ways to Exercise Without Trying
How can you keep fit when 100% of your time is already filled with everything else in your life? It is possible to keep fit and lead a busy lifestyle!
Exercise can seem like a daunting prospect when you feel like you must put an hour in at the gym, then factor in travel, changing and showering time. A quick session in the gym can suddenly turn into a 2-3hour chunk of your day!
I am sure many of you have jobs which consist of long hours, or look after your children all day, or even both! By the end of the day you are exhausted and you can’t even think about going to the gym or going on a run, and if you get up any earlier in the morning you’ll lose that all important sleep that no one should do without.
So how do you continue to do everything you’re already doing and find time to get fit?
Did you know that there are many ways of fitting exercise into your day without spending hours in the gym. Obviously, it isn’t as good as an intense workout which burns lots of calories or gets your heart rate pumping, but every little bit does help so why not try some of these idea to try and fit some exercise in to your daily routine?
- Walk journeys which you would usually use the car / bus / train for.
Walking is such a beneficial form of exercise, its low impact, and can be slotted in to any daily routine. Walk the kids to school instead of dropping them off, take a walk on your lunch break instead of sitting in the canteen at work, or walk to the shops when you need to pick up essentials. It also gives you a chance to get some fresh air and enjoy the outside! - Take the stairs instead of the lift / escalator.
Stairs are an amazing form of exercise. You can factor taking the stairs at work or when you’re out shopping quite easily, and if it’s a long way up, then just do one or two floors, then jump in the lift. It’ll get you blood pumping and your lungs working! - Perform squats while you are waiting for the kettle / toaster.
How many times a day do you stand waiting for that kettle to boil? Instead of staying stationary just do a few squats while you wait, or if you have a clear wall, prop yourself into a wall squat and see if you can hold it as long as the kettle takes to boil. Or for an upper body exercise, try push ups against your work top. - Perform a plank during the theme tune of your favourite TV programme.
You’re settling in for the evening, and putting your top show on to watch, set yourself a challenge to plank through the credits at the beginning. You aren’t watching anything yet anyway, and you can settle in to watch your show feeling good about yourself. - Stand on one leg while brushing your teeth.
It’s something you do every day, challenge yourself to stand on one leg to improve your balance and core strength. Don’t forget to change legs next time you brush or you’ll get uneven! - Every time you go upstairs – run up them instead of walk.
I’m sure you go up and down the stairs at home several times a day if you live in a house, try taking them at a jog instead of a walk and you’ll soon get that heart pumping. - Stretch while watching TV in the evenings.
There are a lot of static stretches you can do without losing sight of the TV, and if you’ve been running around busy all day, or sat at a desk all day, there’s always something that could do with a good stretch! It’s good for improving flexibility and mobility.
Hopefully this will inspire you to find even more ways to add little bits of exercise in to your day. There’s absolutely no excuse for living a sedentary lifestyle just because you’re busy!
