Besides setting aside a specific block of time to exercise, there are also many ways to easily get in a workout.
With a few simple moves, you can burn more kilojoules, improve strength and flexibility, and get healthier all day long. Here are some of the ways to sneak more fitness into your day. Kilojoule-expenditure approximations are based on a 59kg woman. If you weigh more, you’ll burn more kilojoules.
At work
1. Break your e-mail habit.
Instead of typing a message, walk to your boss’s or co-worker’s office as much as possible and deliver the news in person.
2. Window-shop at lunch.
Brown-bag a healthy lunch, and spend the time you would’ve spent waiting to be served at a restaurant window-shopping or running errands instead.
3. Take a midafternoon walk break.
Rather than visiting the vending machine when an energy slump hits, slip outside and take a brisk walk for 15 minutes. Do it just four out of five days, and you’ve added an hour of exercise to your week.
4. Stretch.
Hamstring muscles get especially tight while sitting at your desk, and can lead to lower backache. Do this hamstring stretch: Stand, bend your right knee and shift your weight as if to sit back, straightening your left leg, heel on the ground, and lifting your toes. Hold for 20 seconds; switch legs.
At home
5. Do two chores at once.
Put dinner in the oven first and do the laundry
while it cooks or make an extra-large meal for leftovers later in the week. Either way, you’re freeing up another hour of workout time.
6. Really walk the dog.
Instead of the usual, speedy poop-scoop, take him on a 15-minute walk — good for you (and for him). Twice a day equals a half-hour of exercise.
7. Clean your home.
If a grungy floor doesn’t move you to do some weekend cleaning, maybe this will: You’ll burn about 900 kilojoules cleaning (vacuuming, mopping, etc.) for just an hour.
8. Go for a sunset stroll.
Walk off some of your dinner: Even a leisurely, 30-minute walk burns approximately 588 kilojoules.
On the commute
9. Forget full service.
Get out of the car to pay and wash your windows down.
10. Bike to work.
Turn your commute into a workout: If you live within cycling distance of work, ride. Keep a week’s worth of clothes and your shoes at work, some toiletries to refresh, and drive one day of the week to ferry dirty clothes back home and to drop off fresh shirts, etc., for next week. You can burn an extra 991kilojoules a day with a 20-minute ride each way.
With the kids
11. Make exercise a family event.
Get your kids to workout with you. If you want to go for a run, have them bike beside you. Go ice-skating or take a surfing lesson with them.
12. Get off the sidelines.
Consider coaching your child’s soccer or swim team: You’ll run along the field or poolsides, a great workout in itself. Or, try to get together with another team mom and take a kickboxing or yoga class while the kids practice.
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