5 Easy Ways to Add Exercise to your Busy Day
Don’t have time to exercise? Think again. These quick tips will pack a few extra calorie-burning minutes into your daily routine without you having to set aside extra time for exercise.
1. Work or live in a building with stairs? Great. Take them. Work on the twentieth floor and don’t want to take the extra time? Take the elevator up to floor 18 and take the stairs for the last two floors. That will add only an extra 30 seconds at a time and get your heart moving a bit before you sit down at your desk.
2. Drive a car on a regular basis? When you stop to go to the grocery store or bank, park at the back of the parking lot instead of the front. This will only add an extra minute or two to your shopping, but that adds up over the course of a week to increase your overall exercise.
3. Have an extra 2 dollars to spend? Buy a jump rope and stash it in your bathroom or your bedroom closet. Why? Before you take your daily shower, pull it out and jump for a minute or two (or five.) You’ll be surprised just how aerobic jumping rope is. And while doing it midday could get you a little sweatier than you might like, jumping rope just before you pop into the shower eliminates that problem. Plus, this way you’ll make it a part of your daily routine and you won’t have to think about when to make time for it anymore.
4. Ever use a cell phone? You probably do. One of the easiest things to do for your health is adopt a “walk and talk policy.” Whenever you are at home talking on your cell phone get up and walk around. This can mean just wandering around the house a bit for quick calls or taking a walk around the neighborhood during longer chats. You won’t be using any extra time to exercise, since you were going to be on the phone anyway, and talking to someone will probably take your mind off the fact that you are actually exercising.
5. Do you have any extra space under your bed or your desk at work? If so, buy a pair of inexpensive barbells and leave them there. Doing a set of ten reps of curls will take you no time at all, and you can easily grab a minute here or there before bed or while on speaker phone to pump some iron. Do this for a minute or two a few times over the course of the day and you’ve got yourself a workout! Just be sure to stretch out your arms a bit first and start out nice and easy so you don’t strain your muscles.
OK, so maybe these tips won’t turn you into a world-class athlete, but if you do all five on a regular basis, you may be surprised to find yourself feeling a bit healthier without having to invest the time required for most major workout plans.
