4 Easy Ways to Start Taking a More Active Approach to Your Life.
Eating healthier foods and losing a few pounds can help you begin to meet your conditioning goals. Now you can start to add more physical activity into your daily routine to help you as well. While trips to the gym and investing in expensive exercise equipment might not appeal to you at this point, you can still make several relatively minor changes to the way you go though your day that will give you enough increase in physical activity to make a positive difference in your health and well-being. Here are four easy ways to start taking a more active approach to your life.
Don’t park in the closest spot in the parking lot. It’s an understandable habit that we acquire over the years, cruising through the parking lot, row after row, looking for a spot that is only a short distance from a store entrance. Change that habit by purposefully looking for a spot that is farther away at the outer edges of the parking lot. That will give you a chance to take enough steps to get your blood pumping and your muscles working. Your lungs will take in more oxygen and you can begin to increase your stamina.
If you’re like most people, you put the things you use most often during the day in a place that’s easy to reach without much effort. Think of ways you can reverse that habit. Instead of putting the remote for your television within a few inches of where you’re sitting on the couch, leave it on top of the TV or even in another room. If you want to change the channels or adjust the volume, you’ll be required to get up and walk a short distance to get it. It’s a small adjustment in your life, but one that can make a major improvement in your health.
Use those built-in climbing stations you have been avoiding all these years called stairs. Instead of standing motionless while you wait for and then ride the elevator, head for the stairs. You don’t need to race up them to get a worthwhile workout, simply take the steps at a normal pace. That applies for both going up and going down. Each direction will use your muscles in a different way, so you can work more of your body.
You don’t need to give up your time spent relaxing in front of the television, but change your habits by using commercial breaks to get up and do some stretches. You don’t even need to move too far away from your favorite spot. Just stand up and slowly and gently bend over as if to touch your fingertips to your toes. Bring your upper body back up straight and raise your arms over your head. Lower your arms to each side, extended at shoulder height, and twist your torso to the left then to the right once or twice, only going as far as you can without discomfort. Doing this routine, or other similar stretches of your choice, will increase your energy level. You might find that you would prefer to take a little walk around the block with a friend rather than sit back down to watch another show.
You can see from these suggestions that by changing small habits that have been keeping you stagnant during the day, you can add enough activity to your days to help you reach your physical fitness goals. Start to implement these tips and feel the difference it can make in your life!
