Let’s discuss how to incorporate fitness into your everyday life. We all know about those official moments of exercise: we go to the gym, we take a yoga class, we follow along on a Youtube exercise video, and we go running for our scheduled number of miles or minutes.
Sometimes that isn’t enough. For me, I have days where I get busy with work related activities, or family activities, or some other distracting thing. So there are things we can all do that help us get a bit stronger and sure can’t hurt.
I think we all know by now that we’re supposed to park far away from the door of the store. It’s good to get those extra steps. But you can also try using a basket instead of a shopping cart because carrying the basket forces you to use your arm muscles a bit more. Granted, this won’t work if you’re buying a week’s worth of food but it’s great for those quick dashes into the store to buy a few things for dinner.
If you’ve used the shopping cart, be sure to walk it back to a return spot. Again, those extra steps are good.
While waiting in line, try flexing your ab muscles. No one can tell that you’re doing it but it’s a nice little workout.
One more thing about grocery shopping. Use those bags to your advantage. Sometimes when I want to feel strong, I grab as many bags as I can and I carry them all at once into my kitchen. Other times, I take one or two bags at a time and I make many trips back and forth. It depends on what I want to emphasize that day.
Work on your balance by standing on one leg while brushing your teeth. Be sure to alternate legs.
I used to know a woman who did ten squats every time she went to the restroom. That always felt a bit strange to me but perhaps you like that idea.
We also know we’re supposed to take the stairs instead of the elevator but, if you’re doing that, perhaps you try skipping steps. I think that has to be good for your leg muscles.
If you’re shopping in a mall, don’t rest on the escalator. Either take the regular stairs or walk on the escalator. Same thing with the people movers in the airport. Just keep walking.
I used to carry hangers into my laundry room and hang clothing on them and then take all of the hangers to the rack in one go. Now I take one item out of the dryer, walk over to the rack, and hang u the clothing. I then walk back to the dryer and repeat. It’s amazing how much more movement I get in doing laundry this way.
I use my Bluetooth headphones and pace around my house when I talk to someone on the phone. Sometimes, if it’s a lengthy conversation, I get a couple thousand steps in without even realizing it. Since people can’t see you, you can also grab some dumb bells and do some biceps curls.
You can always do some inclined push ups against your kitchen counter while you’re waiting for a pot to boil just like you can do some squats or lunges during a commercial when you’re watching TV. If you’re binging on a Netflix series, use the time between episodes to move around.
I’m sure we could all answer the question of how to incorporate fitness into your everyday life in different ways. I’d love to hear some ideas from you.