The following fitness tips focus on incorporating fitness into your everyday life. Many of us don’t have the time, or the budget, to buy expensive gym memberships. But you don’t really need a gym membership in order to make significant changes in your fitness level.All you need to do is make a few simple adjustments to your daily routine that will translate overtime into a whole lot of activity and calories burned.
Three Easy Fitness Tips
1. Become more active, consciously. People are wired to be as sedentary as possible. This is probably our body’s way of conserving energy and fat in case hunger strikes, but our current reality, at least in the western world, is that hunger is not a threat – obesity is.
We have surrounded ourselves with plenty of conveniences that mean we hardly move during the day! Elevators, escalators, cars and home appliances are all part of the American obesity problem. Now, we’re not asking you to walk the 30 miles to your office, but how about parking a block away from the office and walking? Or taking the stairs, or washing the dishes by hand after small meals? If you incorporate just one “inconvenience” per month into your life, over the course of a year you will see a big difference.
2. Don’t wait until you have time to exercise. This is a common way to avoid exercising – you feel that you need to reserve a significant block of time, say an hour or so, for exercise, and of course you never get to have that much time. But research shows that exercising vigorously for just a few minutes several times a day (climbing the stairs, jumping rope) is just as beneficial as exercising moderately for longer stretches of time.
3. Make your weekends more active. Instead of watching a game, go play a game. Or go for a hike, for a swim, play with your kids – make it a priority to turn at least one of your weekend days into an active day.
There’s obviously lots more you can do to become fitter and stronger, but these basic fitness tips are an excellent start, especially if you also adopt healthy eating habits. Remember: even small changes add up to make a big difference.