Fitness is so important to your overall health and happiness, but finding the time for exercise is a real struggle. However, just because you can’t make it to the gym four times a week, it doesn’t mean staying active has to fall by the wayside. There are plenty of ways to sneak a little extra cardio into your daily life.
Good General Ideas
If there’s an option to take the stairs or a lift, always step it up. However, a recent study has found that taking one step at a time, rather than two, actually helps to burn more calories, so don’t get ahead of yourself. If your phone goes off, be it for a chat or just a text, see it as an alarm to get out of your chair, and don’t sit down again until you finish your communication – bonus points for doing a few exercises or walking around while you do it.
Workplace Workouts
There’s so much you can do in the office to take care of your well-being. Try holding meetings Mr Selfridge-style and walk around the office. Not only will this get you using up over double the energy you would use sitting in a meeting, but the old “let’s walk and talk” helps to strengthen your creativity, work relationships and overall wellness. You can also get walking more if you drink plenty of water, as this means more trips to the loo – bonus points for picking a toilet on a different floor.
Commute Cardio
As this is the season for getting stuck in an airport over a delayed flight, you have ample opportunity to get some cardio into that dead time. Don’t just sit and wait for your flight, do a few laps of the terminal (minus the moving sidewalks!). When you’re back to work, leave the car behind and take your bike or walk. The bus might seem like the best of both worlds, but you’re only adding to your sitting time, which adds to stress and weight gain.
Chores Galore
Half an hour of vacuuming can burn about 75 calories, while washing the car uses more than double that. When you head out to run those errands, leave the car at home or park further away so you can log a few more steps. If it’s time for the big weekly food shop, take a lap around the supermarket throwing in anything you might possibly want, and then go round again and put back all the things you don’t need. Half an hour of pushing round a shopping trolley could help you burn up to 155 calories, and the laps will help you rack up some steps. Plus, walking round and deciding what you really need might help to cut down on the grocery bill.
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