More Than Our Story

Tips To Keeping Active

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Not Enough Time?

24 hours, where do they go? We never seem to have enough time for keeping active. Truth is, we all do, we just need to make a plan, keep it fun, and stick to it. There is plenty of time in those 24 hours when we add up all our downtime.

As a general goal, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of intense aerobic exercise each week. Chances are however, if you’re reading this article, you’re already struggling. Follow these 10 tips to keeping active, and start your new fitness journey today.

10 Tips To Keeping Active

1. Start Early

Start your day a bit earlier to get in a quick workout at home or your local gym. Yoga is a good way to wake up, with its combination of stretching, strength and flexibility components. You could even walk your dog, or go for a morning ride or jog. You’ll even start the day fresher, more relaxed, and focused.

2. Get Active On Your Commute

Most of us commute. Walking, running or biking to work is a great way to fit in exercise time, which is otherwise spent idle. If you work in an office building, take the stairs whenever you can. Start taking advantage of this extra time and you’ll be amazed how much time we actually spend commuting.

3. Plan Out Your Workouts

Schedule your workouts in advance, and then plan your days around them. Also, once your workout schedule is set, stick to it. It will take some sacrifices – maybe you’ll need to wake up earlier, or squeeze in some late night workouts, but it’s worth it. Your physical and mental health are important, so dig deep, set a schedule, and stick to it.

4. Try Standing

Too many of us spend the day sitting. Find ways to reduce the amount of time you sit. Research by Jebb and Moore, has shown that people that lead sedentary lifestyles are at an increased risk for obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, and live shorter than average lives. Try a standing desk, or one that can change position between sitting and standing. You could even consider buying or making a treadmill desk – an integrated treadmill and workspace – to help incorporate exercise into your everyday routine.

5. Make The Most Of Your Time

You don’t need an hour to have an effective workout. Any exercise is better than none. It’s up to us to find those breaks in our day, that together make all the difference. No need for cardio machines, or weights, bodyweight exercises and stretches can be done anywhere, any time. Have 15 minutes before your next meeting or before dinner is ready? Do some air squats, push-ups, or quick yoga poses, and remember everything counts towards your weekly goals. So change your thinking, and get active in your down time.

6. Exercise More Efficiently

Don’t have time for longer cardio workouts? Try interval training, which involves intermittent aerobic workouts: short bursts of activity, followed by longer breaks of less intense activity. Try sprinting for 30 seconds, then walk 1 or 2 minutes. If your base fitness is higher, consider HIIT (high intensity interval training) training. HIIT, is an anaerobic workout consisting of short bursts of high intensity activity, followed by brief periods of active recovery. This cycle is repeated anywhere between 3 to 10 times, and provides an extreme workout, in a short period of time.

7. Involve Your Family And Friends

We all want to spend time with our friends and family, so include them in your daily exercise routine. Staying active doesn’t mean just going to the gym. Go on a hike, play a round of golf, bring the dog for a walk, throw around a frisbee – there are plenty of ways to involve others in our exercise routines. Try finding a training partner, someone with the same interests as you. My wife and I train for triathlons together, which makes it much more enjoyable.

8. Track Your Activities and Progress

Tracking our activities and progress can be a great motivator. It can be easy to lose track of how much exercise you’ve done throughout the day. Get a fitness tracker and measure and monitor your activity levels. Keep notes on your progress, how often you’re achieving your weekly goals, and adjustment as necessary.

9. Keep It Fun

Nobody wants to do something unenjoyable. Be realistic and know yourself. Choose exercises that you like. Don’t like pull ups? Don’t do pull ups. That way you’re more likely to keep it up!

10. Convenience Is Key

Make your workouts easier to accomplish:

  • Keep your workout gear handy at all times. Bring a sports bag with you; keep it in your car, bring it to the office. You never know when you’ll find a moment to workout.
  • Find a local gym, not your ideal gym. Having a gym close by, even a more expensive one, is ideal, and will help remove any unnecessary impediments from getting a quick workout in. Think early morning in the middle of winter; who wants to travel a town over, when you just head down the street.

Recap

We all can make a huge difference in our physical and mental health by finding more time in our busy schedules for staying active. With a little planning, commitment, and hard work we can all start our new fitness journeys today.

SOURCES
Picture of Daniel

Daniel

Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit. Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.

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