If you're anything like me (and I think a lot of people are) then there are always excuses not to exercise - 'I can't afford the gear', 'I don't have time', 'I don't know how', 'I can't be bothered'. And honestly, those are all excuses I have used in the past. However, I truly believe that where there's a will there's a way, so over the last year or so I have been coming up with little ways of improving my fitness on a day-to-day basis. Now, these are things that you don't need expensive equipment, or clothing for, things you don't always need an hour to complete, because I know from personal experience that they are complete exercise turn-offs. Instead they are fairly uncomplicated activities which can easily be incorporated into your daily routine.
1. Stretch, or do yoga poses when you watch tv.
This has honestly been one of the most advantageous things I have started to do. When you watch tv, generally you're just sitting on the sofa stuffing your face with chips. How about challenging yourself for one week, or one month, and seeing if every time (or most times) you sit down to watch tv, you hop onto the floor and practice your stretching or yoga poses while you watch.
2. Every time you walk past a certain place in your house, do a certain fitness activity.
This is another good trick because it doesn't have to feel like you are doing 'actual' exercise. For example: 'Every time I go into the kitchen I will do 10 star jumps', or 'Every time I walk past the tv I will do 10 wall push ups'.
3. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
This one is easy! And if you happen to work on the 34th floor of a building, and can't manage 34 flights of stairs (who could?!), then just walk up one, or two, or five. Challenge yourself to walk one extra flight a day.
4. Create a '10 Minute Fitness Program' for yourself.
If you have this written down somewhere easily accessible (eg. the wall above your desk, on the fridge), then you will be more likely to follow through with it. If you are unsure what kind of activities to squeeze into 10 minutes, then have a snoop around on google for some good ideas.
5. Get up and walk!
If you are a student, or if you have a desk job, you will find that you spend the majority of your day sitting down. To rectify this, make sure you get up every hour and go for a little walk (obviously not in the middle of a meeting, class, or lecture), but just whenever you've been sitting at your desk for a while. This will help get the blood pumping, and will also help with your concentration, so you can better focus on the task at hand.
So there you have it folks. My quick tips for exercising when there's no time, or when you're just plain lazy like me. I hope you find this useful, and drop me a line if you have any other techniques you use which you'd like to share.
