It’s hard to get in shape for a variety of reasons. Sometimes you just don’t have the time. And if you have the time, you may not have the motivation or energy.
Here are eight tips to help you fit more exercise into your every day that can still energize you.
#1 – Exercise While Doing Other Activities
Park further from the entrance of doors while you’re running your errands (e.g., grocery stored, shopping malls, strip malls, etc.)
Next time you’re driving, resist the urge to circle the parking lot a couple of times to find a cush parking space right in front of the store.
Opt instead to park far enough away to give you a nice brisk walk to and from your destination.
(Make sure you don’t park so far away as to risk your safety. And if you know you’re going to be carrying a load of items, use this tip with discretion.)
#2 – Walk/Step as the First Alternative
As we go about a busy day, we mindlessly find our way to the nearest elevator or escalator – even if we are going just one flight up.
Give walking up the stairs a chance. It cuts down on your wait time and quite possibly your weight. (Sorry, cheesy I know, but you get the idea.)
Take this walk/step idea a step further. (Sorry, had to do one more. ) If you’re headed somewhere and it’s just a block or two away, give your car a rest and choose instead to arrive there by foot.
#3 – Incorporate More Exercises into Your Routine
Research some extra exercises you can add to a home workout. While you’re doing other mind-resting activities like watching TV, take a moment to try out the moves. Every chance you take to be more active pulls more exercise into your day.
#4 – Get Outdoors into Nature
Find your nearest park where you can take a break and a brisk walk. The fresh air from outdoors will invigorate your spirit and the extra movement will help activate your mind to get more with your day.
#5 – Make Use of Waiting Time
Waiting on a prescription that will be ready in 20 minutes? Did you go to the bank and realize the person you needed to speak with isn’t back from lunch until 30 minutes from now? Instead of fuming over not getting instant gratification and wandering around upset, take a deep breath, set your timer on your phone, and walk around the perimeter of the location (inside or outside) until your wait time is up. Your disappointing wait has now turned into an unexpected exercise perk.
#6 – Need More of a Challenge? Set a Goal.
Setting exercise goals that have a specific date associated with them is an excellent way to get some exercise in. Try signing up for an adventure. Is there a 5K run coming up that you’d like to participate in? The odds are you can find an adventure buddy or buddies you can train with. Studies have shown that we are more likely to stick with an activity when we know we have an accountability partner. And having a set goal in mind releases us from thinking of our exercise as drudgery. Instead, we look at the exercise as just par for the course while we anticipate our upcoming event.
#7 – Be a Team Player
Being a gym rat isn’t for everyone. Perhaps it’s not the exercise you’re minding as much as how you’re getting it. Is there a particular exercise you’ve been meaning to try or revive? Is there a local sports league you can join at your community center to get you more motivated to become active? Again, when you are focused on the activity instead of just the exercise itself, you may be more likely to stick with it.
#8 – Working on your Fitness at Work
One of the biggest reasons people give as the reason they cannot workout more is that they are busy at work.
We spend a large amount of our time at work. There’s no debate. However, there are exercises you can do just by taking a mini-break from your massive workload. Identify some of the pockets of time you have at work – lunchtime, chatting with co-workers, or computer guy working on your machine. Are you waiting for a meeting to start? These are perfect opportunities to fit in some fitness. You could add in a few reps of push ups, sit ups or squats into your workday. Not only is the upping your activity quotient, but the endorphins released from these little pops of exercise will boost your mental sharpness. And where better could you use a spike in brain activity? Work and school. Yeah, you get the idea.
Taking Your Exercise to the Next Level
These are just a few suggestions for filling in the potholes we have in our exercise life. As you begin to turn these suggestions into actual real habits, you’ll feel a change in your fitness level. The more you do it, you’ll start to see those changes as well. Feeling more energized is a huge motivator to not only keeping you on your fitness track but to take your exercise goals to the next level. Who knows? Changing up how you approach getting more active may lead you into becoming the next fitness instructor, certified yoga expert, or local gym rat. Keep it moving!
