After a long day of sitting at work do you arrive at home, flop onto the couch and spend the rest of the night there until you drag yourself off to bed?
If this sounds like something you do, you're not the only one. More and more of us are spending our entire days without any aerobic exercise, and lots of us are hardly even moving at all.
New studies and lots of research are starting to show that this sedentary lifestyle can be just as bad for us and shorten our lifespan as much as smoking!
It can be a larger risk factor than high cholesterol or even high blood pressure. Eye-Opening, right?
So what now? You're busy, you don't have a lot of "extra" time. You're tired and have kids and callings in your church and responsibilities in your community. You can't afford a gym membership or a personal trainer. How do you get active?
Walk, Walk, Walk
Walk to work, walk to meetings, walk around your neighborhood or walk around your kids’ playground at sporting events. It doesn’t matter where you walk as long as you walk. And, while you are walking try and keep your pace brisk enough that it will elevate your heart rate but still low enough to be able to carry on a conversation.
Hike for Cardiovascular Health and Happiness
Hiking in nature is an amazing way to boost your fitness because it often has undulating terrain that helps to vary the intensity of the exercise. Additionally, the plants and trees growing there increase the level of oxygen available to us, which can help improve our cardiovascular health but offers other health benefits as well. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, found that those who walked outdoors in nature have a significantly reduced risk of mental illness, compared to those who simply walked in urban areas.
Bike to Boost Oxygen and Brain Health
If you live too far from work to walk there, why not try cycling? Not only will you boost your physical fitness levels, you’ll also give your brain a boost too. That’s because research shows that when inactive middle-aged men and women begin cycling on a regular basis, they give their long-term memory a boost, too. I’m sure the same results can be expected for other age groups and fitness levels.
Take the Stairs
When you are given the chose between elevators and stairs or using a ramp and stairs, choose to use the stairs to give your aerobic fitness a boost.
Get the Kids Involved
If you think your kids will come between you and any time you might have for exercise, why not head to the park and get active together? Whether you throw a ball around and chase after it, run races or participate in some other activity, you’ll be helping him or her to develop a healthy attitude toward activity while boosting your own fitness.
Join a Dance Class
Combine socializing with a new dance class to master the tango. Or perhaps belly dancing or Hawaiian dance is more your speed? Find a local dance class and move that body.
Exercise Even if You’re a Couch Potato
If you really can’t pull yourself away from the television, why not use commercial breaks as your time to give your fitness level a boost? Just stand up and run in place until the commercial break is over, you can do jumping jacks, burpees or hop up and down on a mini trampoline.
