Physical activity is one of the keys to good health. But are you incorporating enough movement into your daily routine?
When I ask my clients about exercise, I start with questions like “How much movement are you getting throughout the day?” The importance of movement and physical activity is just as key as formal exercise. If you workout for an hour in the morning, and then proceed to sit for the rest of your day, your activity multiplier is not going to be as high as you hoped.
A major pitfall relating to exercise is feeling like you need to be doing big 2-hour workouts, long marathon style runs or HIIT workouts for an hour (ugh. Please no). If you don’t have time for this, you might throw in the towel and do nothing instead of moving your body even for 5 minutes.
You also might know that the endorphin rush after a good sweat sesh has the power to lift your mood throughout the day, positively influence the way you interact with others and even help you get more zzz’s at night. Here’s the secret though—even a short workout has huge benefits, so please don’t get tripped up in the all-or-nothing mentality. Just move your body girl!
Research shows lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent! Less than an hour! And researchers showed that workouts greater than an hour had no additional benefit.
Here are 8 ways to squeeze in exercise when I don’t have time for a full-blown workout:
1. Ride your bike or walk to work (or while doing errands)
Ok how doable is this for you? How far away is work? Can you show up sweaty(ish)? For me, I can ride my bike to drop off my child at a friend’s house for a playdate. I can ride my bike to the corner drug store when I just need a couple items. And I can surely ride my bike when that new Nugget market gets built just 1.3 miles (a 7 minute bike ride) from my house. Yes I mapped it already and no they haven’t broken ground yet darn it!
2. Do some household chores
Nothing gets that heart rate up like trying to vacuum stairs! But seriously, if you plan to vacuum, dust and clean bathrooms, all back to back without getting distracted on Facebook, you surely will clock in some serious steps.
3. Tend your garden
Hauling potting soil (because I mostly container garden!) and tools and gloves back and forth from the shed to the garage and pulling the hose out and reeling it back in and kneeling down to weed—all these activities add up!
4. Dance around your living room to one upbeat song
With the kids—obvi. Because what’s better than embarrassing yourself by doing the latest Fortnight dance well enough to impress your 10-year old?
5. Take the stairs
Every time. No really. If there is an escalator only available, you better believe you’re marching up those stairs while they are moving. Going to the 17th floor? Ok then just take 2-3 flights, then find the elevator. There’s always an option!
6. Go on an after-dinner walk
Walking the dog is totally underrated as a form of exercise! Now if my client says this is her only form of exercise, I certainly encourage more. But getting out for an evening walk, even just a mile (or maybe 1.3 down to Nugget!) will benefit you.
7. Do leg lifts and jumping jacks while watching TV
In all honesty I can’t say I’ve done this. Sorry. But it’s a totally viable option! I DO encourage my girls to do their stretching for dance (trying to get those splits!) while watching TV and when they do it, it’s a super effective use of their time. What CAN you do while watching TV? Even just the stretching , especially if you’ve been sitting all day, will be great for your hip flexors and back.
8. Invest in some decent (and a lot of it!) exercise equipment
I’m not just talking about some resistance bands or a single kettlebell. Invest in a set of dumbbells, and as much weight lifting equipment as you have room for. Why? Because it gets really boring to just use a single piece of equipment. I only want to do a kettlebell workout with my single kettlebell like 2 times. My well stocked garage gym is perfect for sneaking in a 20 minute HIIT workout. When I don’t have time for a full blown weight lifting session or a 90 minute yoga class, I can run out to my garage, warm up, jump into a quick HIIT workout and be in the shower in 30 minutes. Having decent and varied equipment at home will pay off big time. Look on Craigslist or Facebook for this stuff. That’s where we got ours—people are always selling equipment they’re not using. Don’t have space for that? Then I recommend a varied set of resistance bands, over the door pull up bars, TRX type systems for the doorways and still some dumbbells. This stuff can be stored anywhere when not in use.
Take Away:
The major key here is to simplify your idea of exercise and just move your body in a way that feels good to you. You don’t need to belong to a fancy gym and stay there for 2 hours to be “someone who exercises.” Get your family or a friend on board and it’s even more fun!
Lastly I want to remind you that cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with long-term mortality. The study specifically says “Cardiorespiratory fitness is a modifiable indicator of long-term mortality, and health care professionals should encourage patients to achieve and maintain high levels of fitness.” Although my certification is not quite a health care professional, I couldn’t encourage you more to get out there and move your body!!
