Easy ways to incorporate exercise in your day to day routine ?

blueeyes201609

I'm trying to start slow and steady, any tips on incorporating exercise in my day-to-day routine?

Machka9

Walk as part of your commute.

Take the stairs.

Park at the far end of the parking lot when you go shopping ... or walk to shop.

Go for a walk at lunch.

If you've got kids, take them to the park after school and run around with them ... toss the ball, play frisbee or tag.

hotasfire36

Buy a weighted hula hoop and use it while watching tv. Also if you like music turn it on and dance while doing chores. I burn alot by dancing around the house.

rileysowner

By this question I am assuming you are talking about activity rather than exercise.

Exercise is intentionally doing some activity at a moderate to high intensity level for a certain period of time. If that is what you want, then you need to select a time that you can set aside for it that you then protect.

If that is not what you are talking about, but are talking about increasing activity, then things like parking at the furthest sites from stores, taking stairs instead of escalators/elevators, walking to things that are closer to home instead of driving, will all add to your non-exercise activity.

azulvioleta6

Schedule it. I'm one of those people who needs a fairly intense level of daily exercise, which means that I really have to go to the gym pretty much every day. I plan weekly and make an appointment to do a specific thing at the gym each day.

Do you mean small amounts of additional activity rather intense exercise? How are you defining activity...by steps?

MeanderingMammal

blueeyes201609 wrote: »

... incorporating exercise ...

So personally I'd draw a distinction between incorporating exercise and increasing activity levels.

For the latter, you've had some meaningful suggestions already; stairs, commute related walking etc.

Deliberate exercise is a slightly different proposition and really depends on what you're wanting to achieve. Given the tone of your question I'd assume that's weight loss related?

There are two main types of exercise category; cardiovascular work and resistance training.

First off, schedule some time for it. It needn't be long, 20-30 minutes gives you decent results. A lot of what you're doing early on is just developing the habit. Things that help in developing that habit include having a plan, having an objective in both the short and long term, and having support from others. Your support network can come from here, from family, friends etc. So if there are others starting out, hook up with them for these things.

Once you've got consistency for a couple of months then it gets much easier to sustain.

Depending on where you are now, take that 20-30 minutes and go for a brisk walk, or use the time to work up some running, or perhaps cycling if you have a bike already. I used the Couch to 5K plan from NHS to help with that; http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx

Resistance training has value, and it's easy to do some bodyweight work without any additional equipment. There is a complementary programme form the NHS to use on non-running days; http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/strength-and-flexibility/Pages/strength-and-flexibillity-podcasts.aspx

You can combine the two in a 12 week plan, to give you structure and help to develop your habit.

One thing I would suggest is to think about something other than the scale. Take measurements or take a photo of yourself, so that in a week, two weeks, a month etc you can compare and see the progress.

And reward your successes. If you can do that 20-30 minutes every day for a week then recognise that in some way. But don't beat yourself up if you don't.

Mrs_Hewi

hotasfire36 wrote: »

Buy a weighted hula hoop and use it while watching tv.

I have never heard of a weighted hula hoop. How would you use it whilst watching tv?
Would it be as I assume, hula hooping standing in front of the tv?