Fitting exercise into your busy daily schedule may seem impossible, but with commitment to regular workouts it can become part of your everyday life.
Utilize triggers–time of day, place or cues–to make exercise a part of your everyday life. Make an exercise session out of sedentary habits such as pedaling a stationary bike while watching television or doing squats while waiting for coffee to brew!
Set a Reminder
Sticking with any new habit can be daunting, and staying active can be especially hard. By setting an alert or reminder to move more often, it will increase the odds that you will achieve your goal.
Some find a simple notification on their smartphone is enough, while others might prefer the more assertive sound of an alarm or buzzer. Others may benefit from more sophisticated methods, like fitness trackers that remind them about upcoming workouts. No matter your preferences, there is sure to be an app available that meets them!
If you’re still hesitant about trying an app, why not make a physical appointment with yourself to do something active? Set an event time and place where it won’t be easy to miss it like right before work or right before heading into bed so you won’t be able to opt-out without feeling guilty?
Make exercising easier by getting someone else involved! Enlisting help from gym or dance class pals, attending sessions together to motivate each other. Plus, exercising with others can make exercise more fun – look into joining classes offered at community centers or yoga studios near you to find one you like!
If you want more flexibility when and where you exercise, try spreading out your activity throughout the day instead of waiting until workout day to take action. Studies show that small bursts of activity throughout the day can be as beneficial as one full workout session – for instance if driving to work, consider parking farther away so that walking an additional mile won’t take as much effort!
Walk a Mile
Walking is a low-impact exercise that not only burns calories and tones your body, but can help manage weight by controlling blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar. Walks are easily accessible and can be done anywhere – make time in your daily schedule to incorporate walks as part of your routine – take part of your journey by foot instead of driving, take a brisk stroll on lunch breaks and/or after dinner to help maintain overall good health!
When walking, aim to maintain a pace of 12 minutes per mile or three to four miles an hour – this should allow for conversation while walking but may prove challenging for newcomers to exercise. By keeping this steady rhythm going forward, your endurance and speed should increase over time.
Use a fitness tracker or app to log and monitor your walks, tracking speed, and even help you choose between cardio or weightlifting for the day. Regularly using these type of apps can motivate you to push harder when walking. Add short bursts of faster walking – for example one minute at full pace followed by slowing back down for the next minute – into your workouts for added challenge and variety.
Bring along your favorite podcast or audiobook while walking to make the exercise more engaging and enjoyable. Or pair a healthy snack or beverage with your walk to give you something to look forward to afterward, like pairing your morning chai tea with some jumping jacks afterwards; or have a salad and glass of water as you walk to the grocery store.
Take a Stair Climb
Stair climbing is an aerobic form of exercise that not only burns calories, but strengthens legs, buttocks, calves, back, arms and abdominals as well as building endurance and improving balance and posture. It offers an ideal low-impact and high-intensity workout option for those who may not feel confident running or jogging or don’t have access to gym facilities.
Stepping onto stairs can be an easy and convenient way to incorporate fitness into your daily routine, since they’re so accessible. If you live in a building with multiple flights of stairs, make an effort to use them instead of elevators whenever possible. For those unable to access them directly at home, set aside 15 or 20 minutes after breakfast or lunch for light stretching and jumping jacks instead – such bursts of activity will help improve physical fitness and reduce metabolic disease risk.
Climbing stairs is an ideal alternative to hiking or walking up hills because it does not involve long car rides and adverse weather conditions. Calories burned depending on your weight and rate of ascent vary according to how fast or slow jog up a flight of steps; even moderate-intensity physical activities such as slow jogging are considered moderate intensity physical activities while speedy ascent is classified as high-intensity activity.
As with any form of exercise, newcomers to stair climbing should begin slowly by building endurance gradually over time. Doing this will prevent injuries while giving your body time to adapt. Individuals with heart or lung conditions should consult their physician prior to beginning any workout program, including stair climbing. It’s also essential that other types of cardio and strength training be included alongside this form of workout.
Do a Yoga Stretch
When your inbox is overwhelming, your kids need bathing and feeding, and you haven’t had a meaningful conversation with your significant other in weeks – exercise may be one of the first items on the back burner. But even just doing a few yoga poses can help loosen tight muscles and leave you feeling refreshed!
Start off with an easy stretch: Cat/Cow pose (Utkatasana). From a tabletop position with your hands by your sides and back flat on the mat, arch your back like a cat before lifting it into cow pose – this stretch benefits hamstrings and lower back as well as increasing balance.
The Wheel Pose (Uttanasana) is another effective stretch to wake up your spine and work out your obliques. From a kneeling position, bring one foot forward with heel in line with opposite knee and arms on same side bent right angles (a). Take a deep breath and twist and reach across body to other hand toward ceiling; hold for 8 seconds on one side then switch sides.
To add an extra challenge, place three yoga blocks strategically throughout the room, one in each corner if possible. From Crescent Lunge, shorten your stance by moving forward with one foot nearer the back; bring heels together and arms long beside body; lean back attempting to lift knees off of mat; repeat on other leg for maximum sweat production and strengthening lower back muscle support. The longer this pose is held, the stronger its support muscles become.
Go to the Gym
Exercise should make you feel amazing, but that alone won’t keep you exercising over the long term. Finding workouts you enjoy will ensure long-term success; forcing yourself into something you dislike or find uncomfortable won’t work either.
Even fit people can feel self-conscious upon first entering a gym, but you should know that more likely than not other members are more likely to judge you by your appearance than by yourself. Once you establish a routine and establish exercises into your repertoire, your concerns for other gym goers will lessen over time.
Schedule workouts just like any meeting or appointment on your calendar – doing this increases the odds that they’ll actually happen!
Find a gym near your work or home and make use of its amenities – you don’t want to waste your workout time traipsing across town or paying parking fees just to enter!
Before beginning an exercise session, be sure to warm-up properly. Skipping this step and diving straight in can result in cramps or injury; warming up with dynamic stretches or performing low-intensity versions of exercises you plan to perform is an excellent way to start out.
Fitting in 30 minutes of physical activity each day may seem impossible, but the effort will certainly pay off. Exercise not only makes us healthier and happier; there’s evidence it can even protect against conditions like diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
