Easy Workday Walking Workout
Sometimes in a busy day there just isn’t time to do a full workout or get to the gym.
But you CAN do something.
Just a few minutes here and there can make the difference between maintaining your fitness and losing it.
And in any case, you’ll feel so much better about yourself if you do the best you can and don’t give up your fitness efforts entirely on those busy days we all have.
Here’s all the you have to do
- At the start of the day, climb 5 sets of stairs - they can be 5 flights at work or mean going up and down stairs at home 5 times. (Alternative: step on and off one step for 5 - 10 minutes)
- At morning break, take a 10 minute walk (or do your stair routine again)
- After lunch, another 10 minutes (take a longer walk if you can then)
- After dinner, 10 or more minutes walk (or more stairs).
There - that means you’ve fitted in 30 - 40 minutes exercise without taking up much of your day at all and you’ll find the mini breaks from your work do you good too.
And if even that is too much then try my whole body fitness course Fitness in No Time which involves only 10 minutes exercise 3 times a week!
Tags: exercise, Fitness, gym, routine, stairs, walk, workout10 Ways to Fit More Walking into Your Life
Sedentary workers take about 2000 steps a day yet they say that 10,000 should be our aim for good health.
While you can dispute that we actually need to do that much exercise to stay fit, more walking can only do us good.
Ten thousand steps is about 45 minutes worth of walking a day. That’s not a lot but finding that spare time is a problem for most of us.
If you want to walk but you just can’t take 45 minutes out of your busy schedule to go for a long walk, try these ways of fitting more walking naturally into your life.
1. Go Further
Walk to the furthest coffee machine, photocopier, bathroom and sandwich place so that you take a few extra steps each time. And park in the space which is furthest away from the front door. If you use public transport get off a stop earlier.
2. Walk and talk
Walk around while you are on the phone. (Cordless or cellphone)
3. Get a Dog
You will have to walk more to keep your dog happy.
4. Don’t Wait, Pace
If you are waiting for a train, a bus or a friend move around rather than standing in one place. And try this at home too when you are waiting for the kettle to boil or the microwave to cook your food.
5. Take the stairs every time
Every step counts so shun the elevator and find the nearest stairwell.
6. Walk before breakfast
A 10 minute walk before breakfast will set you up for the day and boost your metabolism. Set your alarm clock a little earlier and just do it.
7. Be Sociable
Combine walking with your social life. Meet friends for a walk at weekends rather than a drink or a meal. If you enjoy country walks join a walking club. Plan active outings for your kids or make a walk after dinner a family tradition (start when the kids are young!)
8. Shop Locally on Foot
Instead of taking the car to the store once a week, support the small shops in your area and buy your food fresh every couple of days.
9. Have a Lunchtime Walk
Instead of eating at your desk, get out and about. It’s great to clear your head for the afternoon too.
10. Get a Pedometer
A pedometer will let you see how many steps you are taking and encourage you to take a few more each day. Start just by measuring how many steps you take in a day and then aim to increase the number by 20% each week until you reach 10,000.
The most accurate pedometers are digital such as the ACCUSPLIT AE170 Pedometer
Tags: exercise, find time for fitness, metabolism, pedometers, steps, walk, walking5 Ways to Make Exercise Easier on Yourself
1. Plan Ahead
Always have your exercise kit ready and available. Have enough workout clothing so you can get a fresh kit together right after your workout while you’re still feeling good about having gone out for a run or to the gym. And keep it in a handy place at home ready to grab and go or store it in your car trunk so it’s always with you.
2. Follow a Program
Follow a work out program which is suitable for whatever stage of fitness you have reached. If you follow a pre-designed program you never have to think about what to do today - it’s all worked out in advance. If you are more experienced, you can create your own workout plan making sure that you don’t go too far too fast to avoid injury and over-training.
3. Get the Intensity Right
Use a heart rate monitor in conjunction with your program to ensure you are working at the right cardio intensity. You will also be able to follow your progress by seeing a reduction in your resting heart rate and the rate for any particular cardio exercise as you get fitter.
4. Schedule Your Exercise
Make an appointment with yourself as if you had a personal trainer turning up and expecting you to be ready to work out. Write it in your diary and schedule the rest of your life around your exercise sessions so that you make time for them.
5. Stay Healthy
Good food, plenty of sleep, proper hydration and avoiding cigarettes and too much alcohol and will make the job of keeping fit a lot easier than if your life is filled with late night booze sessions and junk food. If you do feel ill, give yourself a break from exercise and don’t force your body to work when it needs rest and recuperation. You’ll get back to full strength a lot faster.
Tags: exercise, Fitness, get fit, gym, heart rate, program, workout7 Ways to Get More Fun from Your Fitness Program
Have more fun working out so that you’ll be motivated to get out there and do it more regularly!
1. Choose a Sport or Activity you Love
Why go to the gym if you hate the gym? Choose an activity which appeals to you and give it a go. When you’re ice-dancing or rock climbing, skiing or playing tennis exercise just happens and doesn’t seem like a chore.
2. Make Exercise Part of Your Social Life
Find a workout partner you enjoy spending time with so that you look forward to getting together for a run or gym session. Just don’t get so carried away and chat so much that you forget to work out! If you usually get together with friends for a meal or drinks see if you can persuade them to do something active instead. Baseball anyone?
3. Enjoy Nature
Exercise is often the only time we adults get fresh air. Make the most of your work out time by taking yourself off to the great outdoors. Find a local beach, park, lake or hill where you can work out and enjoy the wonders of nature at the the same time.
4. Feel the Movement
While you exercise, focus on your body as it moves through the air - sometimes you can feel yourself almost gliding. Feel the pleasure of the movement itself - your muscles working in a co-ordinated way, the efficiency of your body’s cooling systems, how you heart and lungs work together to send oxygen to your muscles. Imagine you had been confined to a tiny cell for weeks on end or hospitalized in a full body cast and feel the joy of now being able to move your whole body.
5. Look the Part
Treat yourself to some new workout clothes you look forward to wearing. You’ll be more comfortable and enjoy working out more in gear that is made for your sport.
6. Entertainment
An ipod filled with your favorite music can make the difference between a boring workout and one you enjoy. Talking books are another alternative. If you exercise at home or at the gym choose a time when you can watch a show you love on TV whilre you work out. You’ll never notice the time.
7. Set Yourself a Challenge
Don’t see exercise as a chore but as a challenge. Always log your workouts and set goals for yourself every week, every workout. Don’t push yourself so far that you risk injury but make sure that you are always progressing and moving one step ahead.
Tags: exercise, fun with fitness, gym, ipod, muscle, workoutMotivation for Running When You Don’t Want To!
If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that I run but I’m not always so keen on doing it.
When I’m outside and actually running I don’t mind it too much - and sometimes I even think I’m enjoying it for a brief moment - you know, the fresh air, the feeling of being alive, the great views around my usual running routes in Edinburgh.
But sometimes getting out there is a bit of a mental struggle.
When that’s a problem I often use a trick I got from Time Management and motivation expert Mark Forster. He got himself to exercise every day by having a goal of simply getting out of his front door with his exercise gear on.
That’s all he had to do.
If he got out there and didn’t want to do any more he’d still met his exercise goal for the day.
Of course once he’d taken the trouble to get ready and get out there, he found himself actually running.
But it helped him get over the mental block of having to force himself to exercise. It suddenly became a choice.
If you’re having problems getting yourself to exercise regularly - give this a try and see if it helps.
Tags: exercise, motivation for runningStair Climbing - an Easy Way to Exercise?
Photo by twenty_questions
Anyone who has ever climbed to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York will tell you that stair climbing is not an easy exercise but you have to admit it’s something that you can easily fit into your everyday life.
Stairs are everywhere and you may as well make use of them.
In fact, keen exercisers in cities as far apart as Boston and San Francisco are starting to use skyscraper stair-climbs as their workout of choice - a 15 minute stair climb offers the same workout as 30 minutes running on flat ground and with less impact.
Even those of us without access to a nearby skyscraper can benefit from the stairs at the office, in the home or at the shopping mall. Every flight you climb counts - a Harvard University study found that men who climbed an average of at least 8 flights a day had a 33% lower mortality rate than men who were sedentary. And research in Northern Ireland has also shown that walking upstairs for just 6 minutes a day will make you 10 to 15 percent fitter.
Climbing stairs will firm your butt, your legs and your stomach - one reason why stair climbing machines at the gym are becoming more popular and why they are taking off as home exercise equipment. Just look at the range of stair climbers and steppers
But even if you don’t have a gym membership or space for a stair climber at home, you can integrate stair climbing into your day. Just remember when you see a sign for the elevator to look for the stairs instead and get firm and fit without taking up your precious free time.
And if you are looking for a new home don’t look at stairs as a disadvantage - that top floor appartment may be just what you need 
Tags: exercise, exercise equipment, stair climbers, stair climbing, stairs, workoutFitness Weight Loss Tip : Split Routines
Photo by exfordy
If you’re looking to lose a few pounds and help things along with exercise, try working out twice a day rather than once.
With split routines
- you increase the calories you can burn without tiring yourself out in one long mega-session - you can work out for longer in total each day and put more effort into your routines
- you keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders giving it a big boost twice during the day
- you keep your goals central in your mind - and hopefully yourself on the straight and narrow
- you won’t have much time left for sitting around pigging out in front of the TV!
If you try this be sure and vary your activities each session and each day so that you reduce the risk of strain and injury on any one part of your body.
Split routines are used most often in weight training to mean working different muscle groups each day and avoid overtaxing any one part of the body, but if you are up for it here is a suggested a.m. p.m split routine incorporating both cardio and strength training.
Tags: calories, exercise, metabolism, muscle, split routines, workoutWalk (or Run) Away from Stress
If you’re feeling under pressure then its easy to say you don’t have time for exercise but even a brief walk or run in the fresh air will help clear your head and mean you get more done overall.
A slightly longer exercise session where you put in a bit of effort releases endorphins - those feel-good brain chemicals that make you feel wonderful and is an even better stress-reliever.
Any exercise with a rhythmic pace such as running, walking or swimming can be quite meditative in itself - especially if you do it alone and let your thoughts go wherever they want. If your thoughts are in turmoil however, calm yourself by focusing on your movements and your breathing.
Far from tiring you out or being a time-killer, exercise can mentally and spiritually rejuvenate you so much, you definitely don’t want to miss out.
And a crisis point, the very time when we tend to shun exercise the most - is the time when we most need it.
Tags: exercise, running, stress, swimming, walk, walkingGet the Truth from Body Fat Monitor Scales
I have a tyrant in my bathroom, lurking in the corner every day - a Tanita body fat monitor scale
But I’m really quite grateful to that scale.
I’ve long been an advocate for daily weighing when you want to maintain your weight and my trusty scales let me know as soon as my weight is creeping up.
If I’m 2lbs over my target weight for more than a day I am on the case. (Don’t know about you but my weight can easily fluctuate up and down by a pound or so for all manner of reasons other than pigging myself and being a lazy slob).
I’m not perfect by any means but I feel it’s an occupational responsibility to keep reasonably slim and fit otherwise what good is it me trying to tell my clients how THEY can get fit or lose weight?
To be honest, I’m always struck by the pretty sizeable men and women (even those who have lost some of their vast bulk successfully) selling diet books and programs - I have come across 3 in the past week where I thought they could be listening to their own advice a bit better first. (And no I’m not going to name names because I think that would be pretty hurtful - you can see them for yourself all around the net) I just don’t want to be one of them.
The scales I use also have an inbuilt Body Fat analysis function. I don’t use that very often - maybe once a month or so (I can never remember how to do it without getting out the instructions).
I know body fat analysis with scales is not that accurate but I think it’s worth getting that functionality if you are going to buy scales anyway. It lets you do a regular check to see if it looks like you are losing lean body mass (muscle).
If you lose weight too fast (more than one or two pounds a week after the first week or two of initial rapid water weight loss) or you don’t keep active enough, you are probably reducing the proportion of lean tissue in your body. You can tell this is the case on your scales if your weight is going down but your body fat percentage is not.
If you lose as much (or more) muscle than fat, you will pile the weight back on after you stop dieting. Muscle is active tissue which burns fat even at rest and you don’t want to lose ANY of it.
Keep up your lean body mass with exercises to tone and strengthen your muscles while you lose weight - at the very least keep as active as you can so that your body does not give up muscle tissue without a fight.
See the whole range of Tanita body fat analysis scales here.
Tags: body fat analysis, diet, exercise, lose weight, muscle, program, scales, weight maintenanceExercise Before Dinner
Photo by Carl Mueller
Just before dinner is a great time to exercise. After a long day at work or home, it will perk you up and help put you in a more relaxed mood.
It won’t work if you allow yourself to get too hungry however, so make sure you grab a healthy afternoon snack or crunch on an apple a little while before you start.
Even a quick walk in the fresh air, a five-minute bike ride or a run around the park with your kids will help reduce your appetite a little and give your metabolism enough of a boost to cope with the meal to come. And you can still do this even if you did your workout earlier in the day.
Reminding yourself of your health goals in this way by deliberately doing something active before you prepare food and eat a meal gives your subconscious a nudge so you tend not to overeat so much and ruin your good intentions.
Tags: exercise, metabolism, walk, workout
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