Easy Ways to Squeeze in Exercise

For people trying to lose weight and get fit, experts recommend that you work out anywhere from thirty to sixty to minutes every day; however, most adults don’t have a block of time that they can dedicate to working out, so they tend to skip exercise. However, if you break up the time into ten to fifteen-minute increments, it’s easy to squeeze much-needed physical activity into your already busy day if you get creative and resourceful.

Short bursts of activity have a cumulative effect on your physical fitness; four ten-minute workouts a day three to five times every week are easier to stick with than a solid block of time that can fall by the wayside as our lives get busier. When people eliminate the destructive all-or-nothing mindset that can be destructive to their workout, they find that they get fit faster. Skipping your physical activity for the day can feel self-destructive, but taking ten minutes to walk up and down the stairs at your office can be invigorating, and encourage you to seek out other ways to get active.

If you are home, there are several ways to sneak exercise into your day. When you head outside to get the mail, extend your walk–briskly walk five minutes up the street in one direction and then briskly walk back to your home. As you cook your family’s dinner, practice standing push-ups in the kitchen by standing an arm’s length away from the kitchen counter and then push your arms against the counter. To work your arms and shoulders, just push in and out.

If you find yourself with time to burn as you’re waiting for an appointment, or watching a child’s sports team practice, it’s easy to find little ways to stay active as you wait. You can briskly walk around the block as you wait then end of your child’s music lesson, or circle the soccer field as your kid tends goal. A trip to the playground is a perfect opportunity for snatched bits of fitness–you can do pull-ups on the monkey bars, or throw a ball back and forth with your child.

During the work day, there are several ways to stay active. If possible, try to walk to work–if your job is only a mile or two away, this can be a great daily workout. If you dine away from your office, find a restaurant that will require you to walk a good distance. Always take the stairs whenever possible, and use a phone call to stretch your back.