Blog Fitness

Get Active with These Tips

While some folks are born with the ability to run marathons seemingly without breaking a sweat, the rest of us have to work hard to keep our fitness levels up. Some of us have sports as part of our daily routines—whether it’s running around with our kids or playing pickup basketball at the park—but for those of us who don’t have daily access to a gym or a team to play on, it can be hard to stay motivated enough to get active.

It’s hard to stay active when life gets busy. It’s easy to put on the comfy sweats and just watch another episode of your favorite show. The good news is that it’s never too late to gain that energy back. You don’t need to have a trainer or a gym membership to stay active. There are plenty of ways to get moving, even when life gets busy.

To help you stay motivated and on track, take a look at these tips on how to get active:

  • Go for a run or walk around your neighborhood. If you’re a complete beginner, start with a walk on a level surface, then add some hills and time. During your walk, try to increase your pace to a jog. If you can, pick up the pace to a run. If you can’t run, but you can jog, jog and add distance. Once you have a good level of endurance, try adding speed work to your walk/jog routine.
  • Start a walking meeting with a coworker. This is the latest trend in healthy meetings. Walking is an excellent form of exercise. It is easy on the joints, it can be done anywhere, and it’s free. Getting into the habit of walking regularly can be fun and is a great way to get in shape. Just a few minutes of walking a day can significantly improve your health.
  • Swimming is one of the best ways to get active. That’s because the water provides so much resistance that you feel like you’re working harder than you’d be on land. In addition, you’ll burn calories so quickly that you’ll be able to work out for longer.
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. The average person can burn anywhere from 120 to 300 calories for every 1000 steps they take. This means, depending on your weight, you can burn anywhere from 20-60 calories with each minute of stepping. The average person burns 90 calories in a 20-minute workout. If you take the stairs instead of the elevator, you can burn an extra 90 calories per day just by taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you do this every day, you will lose up to 25 pounds in 6 months.
  • Tune in to fitness programming. From morning to night and in every time slot in between, you can find shows that will help you lose weight, get stronger and put you on the path to a healthier lifestyle. Whether you’re looking to get in shape, lose weight, or train for a marathon, you’ll find the programs you need to meet your goals — and have a little fun along the way.
  • Lift some weights or take classes at the gym. Women are all looking for ways to get fit, but modern life makes it difficult to dedicate hours to exercise. Consider alternating between lifting weights in the gym and attending exercise classes to fit more activity into your day.
  • Walk instead of drive. A 10-minute walk can burn 100 calories, so if you walk instead of drive, you can burn an extra 100 calories a day and shed up to 10 pounds in a year.
  • Practice some dance moves. These days, dancing isn’t just for the club. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a lover of the local Zumba class, dancing is a fun way to keep fit. It doesn’t take a lot of time, and you can make dancing a part of your daily routine.

We all know that exercising and keeping active is essential for a healthy and happy life, but it’s easy to get stuck in a rut or feel overwhelmed by all the conflicting information out there. This is why we’ve picked out some of our favorite tips and tricks for staying active, all in one place. We hope you’ll find these ideas helpful, whether you’re just starting out or ready to make a fitness lifestyle change.

 

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