Tag exercise tips

Chances are, your job requires a lot of sitting. And thanks to the marvelous advancements which technology has given us, we do not need to be nearly as mobile as we used to as human beings.

We originally evolved as walking creatures, exploring and shaping our world by frequently moving. But for many, modern day “sit down” jobs have joined a remote control equipped, couch-centered home life which has led to a very sedentary lifestyle.

However, there are some easy-to-follow exercise tips for people looking to improve their health and fitness that do not include heavy weightlifting and running marathons. Incorporate the following simple exercises into your daily routine, and you will improve your energy and fitness levels in no time.

• Doctor David Dunstan, PhD, explains that we must be thinking about fitness all day long. Exercising during the lunch break is great advice, but you need to incorporate exercise throughout the day as well. You can easily do this on the job by alternating sitting and standing whenever you have the chance.
• And the next time that you need to contact your coworker down the hall, take a walk instead of shooting out an e-mail. You can also stand and even pace whenever you place or receive a telephone call, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and take regular breaks scheduled throughout your day which get you out of your chair.
• You can also adopt a NEAT attitude, and that does not mean cleanliness and more organization. NEAT stands for “non-exercise activity thermogenesis” in this case. People often forget that stretching, bending and turning are all very important for keeping us limber and avoiding injuries, and these simple exercises can be performed all day long by even the most sedentary individual.
• If you telecommute, walk outside in a sunny park during a conference call. And scheduling a brisk 10 or 15 minute walk in the afternoon close to your quitting time will not only help you become more productive at the end of the day, but also delivers wonderful fitness rewards.

As long as you embrace improving your health, you can turn your sedentary work and home environments into fun and active centers of fitness by taking very small steps. Stand when you can, schedule multiple breaks throughout your day for even small periods of physical activity, and do not forget to stretch and bend.

These simple tips for those with a sedentary lifestyle can have a wonderfully positive cumulative affect over time, and help you reach a better overall fitness level that leads to a longer, healthier and happier life.

7 Everyday Tasks You Can Turn Into A Workout

If you burned only an extra 100 calories a day, that would lead to 10 pounds of weight loss over one year. Ramp that up to an additional 200 calories a day over your current everyday activity level, and you just dropped 20 pounds in a year. But the problem with most 21st-century human beings is not the desire to lose weight and get in shape, it is the lack of having a significant chunk of time in a very busy and hectic daily lifestyle to exercise.

However, you can achieve the weight loss and fitness goals you are striving for by turning the following 7 everyday tasks into simple workout sessions which burn at least 100 calories.

1. Did you know that simply carrying an infant for 20 to 30 minutes can burn 100 calories? You probably never have thought about your crying newborn as being an alarm bell which can help you lose weight and get in shape, but this mini-workout can do exactly that.
2. When was the last time that you did your dishes by hand? This is a great task you can turn into a workout, and if it lasts for 40 minutes, you have just burned 100 calories.
3. Every household usually has a particular person that regularly walks the family dog. But you may want to take this task upon yourself, since a 26 minute walk with the household hound can help you burn at least 100 calories.. Bigger and more energetic dogs simply mean more calories burned, and a better workout.
4. Give your living room a quick makeover, and not only does your house have a whole new look, but you have just created an awesome new 14 minute workout. That is all the time you need to spend moving furniture to burn 100 calories.
5. If you live in a cold climate, you no doubt despise having to shovel snow. Not anymore, as a simple 15 minutes of snow shoveling raises your heart rate, and your calorie burning potential, making this previously dreaded task something to look forward to.
6. And while some people love to cook, at the end of a long, hard day, not everyone wants to prepare the family meal. However, simply cooking for 34 minutes can now be considered a workout as well as a daily chore, and it burns 100 calories to boot.
7. Finally, 20 minutes of mopping the floor, mowing the lawn or washing your car will also burned 100 calories.

By looking at these common (and sometimes dreaded) daily tasks as opportunities for becoming healthier and a little more fit, your attitude about accomplishing them will be much more positive. Now you can be happy about getting enough exercise when your dog begs for a walk, and mowing the lawn once a week all of a sudden does not seem like such a horrible chore at all since it’s now part of your exercise routine.

Even if you can’t find a large chunk of time in your day, there are some things you can do to take advantage of small chunks that you may have throughout the day. Below are 5 tips on how to work in some exercise into your day.

1) Dress for the Occasion

Many times the desire to exercise diminishes if you have to go and get changed into your workout clothes. Or maybe by the time you got changed, your “window of opportunity” is gone. The way around that issue is to put on your workout clothes right away when you get up. That way when an exercise opportunity comes up, you can take advantage of it right away.

2) Be Prepared

If you do have small chunks of time that show up during your day, have a routine or workout ready that you can do in that amount of time. There are many 10-minute workouts available on the Internet. Studies have shown that three 10-minute sessions per day are actually better than one 30-minute session.

Also, have a longer routine ready that you can do if you get a longer chunk of time, such as 30-minutes. Maybe a run or walk planned or an exercise video. Otherwise, you may squander away an opportunity trying to think what you could do in that amount of time and end up not doing anything.

3) Exercise Together

You don’t have to exercise alone. If your kids are younger, think about buying an exercise stroller where you can jog while pushing the stroller ahead of you. If your kids are older, have them exercise with you. Not only will the exercise do them good, but you will be instilling the healthy exercise habit in them.

4) Ask for Help

Make time for you to get out and exercise whether that is a jog around the neighborhood or going to a gym. If you have family in the area, ask a grandparent to watch your kids for a couple hours once or twice a week. Arrange for your spouse or significant other to watch the kids once s/he is home while you go exercise. Or hire a babysitter to come in once or twice a week for an hour or so – anything that can get you out of the house and to exercise.

5) Buy your own personal trainer

No, I’m not talking about buying a person that comes into your home to work with you, but you can have the next best thing by buying a few exercise videos. It is almost as good as hiring a personal trainer. There are loads of videos available regardless of your fitness level, from those just starting out to exercise boot camps for the more advanced fitness buff. Having exercise videos makes it easy to pop one in the DVD player and work through a session while your kid is napping in the afternoon.

6 Fitness Ideas For Couples

Ninety-four percent of couples that work out together stick with their fitness programs for the long-term. Part of the reason for the high success rate is accountability of one partner to the other. By each motivating the other, one would let the other one down by not working out.

Couple fitness differs from partner fitness in that there is a deeper commitment to make the other one happy. Once the workout is over, partners usually go their separate ways, however with couples, they go home together.

While there are several different types of couple physical activities, some lend themselves to working out together better than others. Here are six exercises that are great for couples.

Zumba

Based on several different Latin moves, including salsa and hip-hop, what can be more enjoying than watching your partner move to the music. While dependent on weight, duration and intensity, you can burn between 325 to 725 calories in an hour-long class.

Water Aerobics

Exercising in water lends itself well to couples fitness as water aerobics is usually in a group setting anyway. Depending on your weight, you can burn anywhere from 350 to 500 calories during an hour class.

Cycling

Whether you cycle on separate bikes or on a bicycle built for two, cycling is a great way to both burn calories and spend time together outside. Leisure biking at 10 mph burns about 300 calories per hour. Power biking at 24mph can burn up to three times that amount.

Tennis

Regardless if you play singles against each other or as a couple, tennis is a great workout and a good way to learn how to work together as a team. An hour-long game can burn up to 345 calories for a man and up to 590 for a woman.

Weight Lifting

While all of the other exercise activities in this article are cardio-centric, weight lifting is great for couples who want to do strength training. One can spot while the other one lifts; then switch around. A 150-pound person can lose up to 300 calories in an hour-long session.

Resistance Training

Partner-assisted resistance training can run from kickboxing, to throwing a medicine ball, to pulling against each other using a fitness band and everything in between. An hour session burns around 300 calories.

And who knows, spending all this quality time together exercising could trigger a spark to another great couple exercise activity – lovemaking. A 30-minute romp between the sheets burns around 145 calories. And for more ideas take a look at “How to Make Exercise More Fun” and Enjoy!