The key to bringing exercise into your daily life (especially if you’re not doing any at the moment) is to start small and build it up over time. In this way you will little by little incorporate into your lifestyle, and over time it will become habitual and you will come to miss it if you don’t do it.
As a species we have become very sedentary – in the western world at least – with many of us sitting at a computer all day, some of us even eating our lunch at our desks and only moving to go to the toilet. We are also often very stressed and tense, which may result in high cortisol levels with no outlet to release the stress, which can add to fat around the middle.
For thousands of years we moved a great deal on a daily basis, especially to hunt and gather food. We moved location following the seasons and in order to access available resources. As we developed farming methods and became more industrialised we moved less still. And now modern technology means that many of us are hardly moving at all, in comparison to how we were ‘designed’ to move. As a result of our lack of movement, people’s health is suffering, our fitness is reduced, stress isn’t being released and diabetes is on the rise as are the other ‘western lifestyle diseases’ such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
So the bottom line is we all need to move more! Walking the dog on a daily basis isn’t enough, as unfortunately if you do something regularly, your body gets used to it. We need to raise our heart rates for an extended period of time, ideally on a daily basis. And it’s very beneficial to vary what you do.
There are many ways you can incorporate exercise into your daily lifestyle. The following are some ideas to try:
* As you wake in the morning and are lying in bed spend 5 minutes stretching your body.
* Keep a yoga mat or towel handy in the bedroom or lounge room and on rising spend 5-10 mins stretching you could try practice 5 ‘salutations to the sun’, if you are able and this is something you would like to try, which is a yoga asana that will stretch and activate your body. This can be done at any time of day, when you have a free 5-10 minutes.
* As you’re waiting for the kettle to boil, or eggs to cook, do some squats, as many as you can fit in while you wait. If you’ve never done this before start with 5 per day and build up gradually. Use any opportunity you can throughout the day to do squats. This will engage your core muscles and many other muscle groups in the body and is a fabulous way to exercise and tone your body.
* You can also do squats at work while you’re waiting for something to print, or at the photocopier. The idea is to fill those ‘wasted’ minutes waiting for something with some exercise such as squats. You could also do some stretches.
*Another way to exercise while waiting is isotonic and isometric exercises. Squeeze and tighten all of your muscles in your arms, your stomach, your bottom, thighs and calves, and hold for as long as you can. This forces glucose into the muscle cells regardless of insulin. Repeat this as often as you can. For some great examples of exercises to build into your daily routine see this helpful book
* Consider walking, running or cycling to and/or from work, even if it’s only part of the way. This will increase your cardiovascular health, endurance, stamina and overall fitness. Even making changes in a small way can make a positive difference to health and wellbeing. An example would be walking to the train station rather than catching a bus. Sometimes due to peak hour traffic, you may get there in the same time or even quicker than the bus.
* Invest in a mini trampoline/rebounder which is a small piece of equipment that is relatively inexpensive. Start with 5 minutes of ‘bouncing’ per day and build up over time to 10-20 minutes. This is something easy to do indoors or outside. Rebound inside or outside, while watching TV or listening to music. This is fabulous for your lymphatic system, getting potentially stagnant lymph moving!
* Go for a power walk or run during your lunch break. Make sure you follow it with a good lunch full of protein and some good quality carbohydrates, so as to ‘feed’ your muscles after exercise.
*You’ve heard it before – take the stairs rather than the lift. If you can run up or down them rather than walk, then do so! The more flights the better. If you’re sitting at a desk all day, working at a computer, any movement you can do will be beneficial on many levels.
* Invest in a ‘kettle bell’ and a DVD instructing how to use it. Buy the smallest weight initially and start with 10 minutes, slowly increasing over time. These are powerful exercises when done correctly!
* Buy some dumbbells and keep them at work under your desk. If possible do some arm and leg exercises whilst at your desk.
*Vary your exercise to keep it interesting! Plan a long walk in a park or the country or in an unexplored area on your day off or on the weekend. Walking in nature can have a wonderfully relaxing and calming effect, and if you’re away from a big city the added bonus of cleaner, unpolluted air! You will be sure to feel invigorated afterwards.
* Consider joining a walking group. There are many groups around, and they organise regular walks to a wide range of areas, offering different levels of fitness and lengths.
* Invest in a bike and explore your local parks with a relaxing bike ride. Take a train or drive out to the country and bring your bike. Go with family, friends or even join a cycling club.
* If you have children, this is a perfect way to exercise regularly and in a varied way. It’s also very easy to raise your cardiovascular rate chasing children around which is ideal to help promote fitness and fat burning. Play football, chase them around and play ‘tag’, have running races – make up games that incorporate movement and exercise.
* Now is the weather to start swimming! Again if you’re new to it, start slowly and build up as your endurance increases. Swimming is an excellent exercise for the whole body and for your cardiovascular system.
* If you love dancing, why not take up a class, even if it’s just once a week! There are SO many options, try different styles until you find something that suits you. There’s Zumba, Salsa, Belly dancing, African dance, 5 Rhythms, Ecstatic Dance, Pole dancing, Ballet and Tap… The list goes on. And dancing isn’t limited to women, men join in – it’s a fabulous way to have fun, increase your fitness and meet new people too.
Remember after any intensive or extensive exercise to cool down and do some stretches so as to avoid injuring yourself.
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