How to Incorporate Physical Activity and Exercise in Your Busy Life
We all know that a sedentary lifestyle is one major factor in health-related issues along with unhealthy diet habits and stress. As we all are aware of the benefits of exercise and staying active throughout the day, I promise you that I am not going to preach here about why you should fit in exercise and staying active in your day to day routine. I will just give a few fun tips on staying active.
Also, both physical activities and exercise are equally important. One will not replace another. Exercise is a planned activity that either boosts up your heart rate through cardio or strengthens your muscles through strength training or does both. We shall cover this in detail in the future but in short both physical activity and exercise are necessary. One should exercise for at least 30 minutes per day for a minimum of 5 days a week.
This article is to give you a few tips on how you can stay active throughout the day by incorporating a few fun-filled habits.
Help around in the house to do household chores. I know that sometimes household chores are boring but we can put some music on while working to make the work lively. The advantage is that doing household chores together strengthens the bond between family members.
Instead of sitting and talking on the phone, stand up and walk slowly while talking on the phone.
Invest in a smartwatch that will monitor your steps and exercise. Set steps goal. Start small and gradually increase it to 10000 steps per day on your smartwatch. It will also remind you to stand up and take few steps if you are sitting for long (Benefit: If someone tells us to get up and stay active we feel they are nagging us but when a smartwatch sends reminders, we won’t feel offended. Thus smartwatches save relationships 😊). Jokes apart, I assure you that this investment is worth the money as you can track your activity, steps, and exercises. A few of them even remind you to take a break and perform guided breathing exercises to reduce stress.
If you have a desk job, get a standing workstation so that you can work while standing for some time.
Incorporate outdoor activities with family and kids if weather permits (Going for a stroll together, outdoor games, gardening to name a few)
Put on some music and dance like no one is watching (I assure you that this is fun).
Cook some healthy meals together as a family. This strengthens the bond between family members.
If you observe yourself sitting for long, just get up and climb some stairs once or twice.
When you go shopping, intentionally park your car at a distance from the entrance of the shop or mall so that you can get a few extra steps towards your daily activity goal.
Consider all this as fun and always keep the end in the mind. When you feel lazy, remind yourself of the benefits of staying active. In short, keep moving.
So we talked about how to stay active throughout the day. In our next blog post, we will give a few tips on how to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.
Comment below on what your favorite ways to stay active are. We look forward to hearing from you.