Fitting Fitness into Everyday Activities

Hello Everyone!

Physical activity is extremely important for everyone to partake in and get the adequate amount of, BUT life can get busy and excuses can pile up.  I, along with most others find many "reasons" to skip workouts, which leads to skipping more workouts, then BAM you haven't worked out in over two weeks.  This is where I am right now and it has taken a tole on me.  I am more fatigued, making bad food choices, irritable, and feeling pretty gross in my own skin.  I am making it a point to get back on track with my weekly workouts (linked here), but I also thought I would share some other ways to squeeze fitness into your everyday activities, so when you do skip a workout, or eat a really delicious cheeseburger from Red Robin along with ALL of the French fries (guilty as charged!), you do not have to feel like you did not accomplish any exercise!

The American Council of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends adults get 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, 5 times a week.  You can break this 30 minutes up and dedicate three 10 minute sessions a day to exercise or however you choose to divide your time (as long as you do at least 10 minute intervals).  So let's say maybe you only have 20 minutes to lift or get in some cardio.... Push to make those 20 minutes as vigorous as possible, then add at least 10 minutes of other fitness activities into your normal day.

Here are some ways I fit fitness in during the day:

Brush your teeth while working your legs!

Laugh all you want at this photo, I guarantee you try this :P

We are all supposed to brush our teeth for 2 minutes, twice a day....SO why not take advantage of having free legs for 4 minutes daily.  I incorporate squats and calf raises into my teeth brushing routine.  You can do any type of lower body exercise, those are just the two I prefer (and can manage to do whilst brushing).

Take stairs whenever you have the option!

New orange Nikes totally compliment my work ensemble ;)

I am a big fan of taking the stairs when you have other options like an elevator or escalator, so I make a big effort to choose stairs daily over the latter choices.  I use the stairs coming and going at the train station and hike up the stairwell in my building all 7 floors to my office.  I understand some time we are not equipped to take the stairs (bad shoes, too many bags, or an injury), but try adding more climbs little by little.
 

Walk places or while you're working!

Our workstation treadmills

Walking is such an important activity to partake in daily since we live in such a sedentary world these days.  I walk daily from the train to my office, which is about a mile each way.  I know not everyone has the opportunity to walk this far to work, but little changes like parking in the farthest parking spot can be a method of walking more.  Since I work for a health and well-being company we have treadmill workstations in our office, so I try to put in at least an hour when I am in the office.  Again, many people do not have this luxury, but take the long way to the washroom, have walking meetings/phone calls, and make sure to get up and moving once every hour!

Do you sneak exercise into your daily life?  If so, what activities to you incorporate?  If not, I hope some of my suggestions can help inspire you to add more fitness in!

- Courtney