27 No Sweat Ideas to Get You Moving

I hear you. You don’t have time to workout every day.  Life is busy and I get it. Listen, I don’t workout every day. I do take an occasional rest day, but I’m always conscious to move whenever I get the opportunity.  No, every workout does not have to be a sweat session. Simply telling yourself to move more can be life changing.  After all, your desk chair or your couch may be your biggest health hazzard. People will tell me they think the whole “park farther away in the parking lot” tip is silly.  But I’m here to tell you that it’s all about the sum of the parts.  Active people tend to burn more calories, feel better and are even happier! And all of those small decisions, like walking across a parking lot to enter the store–add up!  You all know I’m a lover of intense workouts, but one hour a day of exercise does not grant you the privilege to sit  on your butt for the next 16 hours.

Excessive sitting impacts our body’s metabolic system: “Today, our bodies are breaking down from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, depression and the cascade of health ills and everyday malaise that come from what scientists have named sitting disease.” ~ James Levine, MD, PhD

So we’ve complied 27 ways to sneak more movement into your day:

AT HOME:

1. Stand up and march during the commercials when watching your TV shows.
2. Take each family members laundry upstairs separately.
3. When talking on the phone to a friend, pace the floor, walk around the room, your house or your yard.
4. Do yard work: Rake leaves, shovel snow, mow the lawn.
5. Start your day with 16 squats, 16 alternating lunges and 16 pushups.
6. Instead of sitting to read your book, buy it on your smartphone and walk on the treadmill or around your neighborhood while listening.
7. Turn on tunes and get your dance on while cleaning.

AT WORK:

1.  Drink tons of water – you’ll have to get up and go to the bathroom more often.
2. Get a standing workstation. (Or make a DIY).
3. Sit on a stability ball.  Do a few ab crunches several times a day.
4. Take the stairs up to your office and back down at the end of the day.
5. Schedule moving meetings.
6. Set an alarm on your computer and get up once an hour to take a lap around the office.
7. Get a co-worker to be your workout buddy for the lunch hour.

WHILE TRAVELING:

1. When you’re waiting for a flight, don’t just sit in a chair, take a walk around the airport.
2. Skip the people movers.
3. Stand while waiting for a train.
4. When stopping for a road-trip break, take a quick lap around the parking lot.
5. Get off the bus two stops sooner; walk the rest of the way.
6. Book hotel rooms on a high floor and walk up instead of the elevator.

WITH THE FAMILY:

1. Plan active dates with your S.O. instead of always going out to eat.  Walk, bike, hike, do yoga together.
2. Break out the active video games with your kids.  Try the wii or the xbox and have fun.
3. Get out in the yard with the family and play Frisbee, croquet, bocce ball. In the winter, build a snow man or go sledding.

WHILE DOING ERRANDS:

1. Walk to the store, the hair salon, the coffee store whenever appropriate or possible.
2. Do bicep curls with your grocery bags or shopping bags.
3. Mall walk. Take a few extra laps when shopping.
4. When you are at the store, park farther away in the parking lot and get in a few extra steps (had to say it).

BONUS: MY FAVORITE IDEA …

Wear an activity tracker and get your 10,000 steps a day.  Naysayers think it won’t make a difference, but even as a fitness professional, my activity tracker makes me more active.  In the summer I take an extra walk.  In the winter, I go out and shovel or hop on my step mill.  Anything to get to my 10,000 steps.  It just makes me more AWARE of my daily activity.

Here’s my choice for an activity trackers!

Okay, get out there and MOVE!!