By: Lina S. Yates
In this day and age, we’re all so busy. There seems barely time for all the essentials of life - like sleep! How can we fit fitness into our day?
It’s a good thing, then, that keeping fit doesn’t require grueling one hour marathons every day. In fact, we can squeeze in a lot of time for fitness by taking advantage of various moments in our day.
Fitness During the Workday
Many employers these days have health and fitness programs in place, so if you’re lucky enough to have a fitness-oriented employer, make sure you take advantage of these benefits. And if your employer isn’t focused on health and fitness? There are still a lot of ways you can add fitness to your workday.
Here are some examples of what you can do to schedule in fitness into your work day. Whenever you have the choice between the stairs or the elevator, opt to give yourself a workout by taking the stairs. Walk everywhere. Don’t hand your project envelope to the mail personnel. Hand deliver it to your coworker on the next floor yourself.
Want some more ideas? You can practice Pilates movements at your desk. There are sitting stretches you can do, too. Or if you have the room, take a few moments every now and then to do some basic stretches. You can even practice simple Yoga techniques! There are lots of fitness opportunities all around you. Keep on the alert for them, and you’ll soon find it easy to keep fit during work.
Keeping Fit at Home
Great, you’re home, so working out is so much easier now, right? Wrong! Home requires just as much attention and responsibility as work, as well as being mom or dad at the same time.
An easy way to add fitness at home is to involve the whole family. Kids don’t think of exercise as work and it can be a special time to share with your child that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Have the family take a walk before or after dinner or organize a family-wide game of tag in the backyard.
Other ideas for home fitness include turning housework into aerobic exercise. Get that vacuum cleaner going and use your arm, back, and core muscles to propel it back and forth. Load the dishwasher and maintain proper posture as you bend and straighten, keeping your abdominal muscles tight. Sweep the driveway as fast as you can for a quick aerobic blast!
Out and About
You can even turn running errands into proper little workouts. Standing in line at the grocery store? Don’t zone out! Strengthen your buttock muscles by contracting them for a count of 15, and then releasing them. You can do the same with your abdominals. And it keeps the wait time feeling short rather than long.
Other things you can do while waiting in line? Try standing on your tiptoes for a count of 10, to strengthen your calf muscles. If you find yourself sitting in traffic, you can do arm exercises and simple stretches while you’re waiting. Sure, you might look a bit strange, but hey, you’re getting fit!
Spur of the Moment Fitness
If you’re having one of those lazy days or are just simply bored, use your time to visit a local park and do some speed-walking. If the weather is uncooperative, go to your local mall and walk briskly around all levels at least twice. Some malls offer reward programs that allow you to earn points for walking at the mall, which can then be redeemed for gift certificates or coupons. That’s not too bad for a random decision to go walking at the mall!