How to sneak exercise into your day

Eat less; move more; live longer. Let’s be more specific about that moving part.

According to the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services:

Adults 18 to 64 should get:
2.5 hours/wk of moderate intensity exercise.
OR 1.25 hours a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity
Or Some combination of the above – equivalent episodes of at least 10 minutes spread throughout the week.

That is really not a lot of exercise to sneak into a seven-day week. But, this is an old guy who has been retired for 17 years talking. What about the guy/gal who is clocking 50 or more hours a week on a demanding job with after work dinners and out of town travel assignments. All of a sudden a total of 2.5 hours a week becomes difficult to downright impossible.

Consider a desk that allows you to stand to protect yourself from the damage of prolonged sitting.

Well, WebMD has some really good ideas on how to squeeze some exercise into each day – even with a demanding job. You can check them all out at the link, but here are some that particularly impressed me.

Stretch at your desk – “It helps your blood flow through your body, increases your range of motion, and may help prevent an injury. And you can do it anywhere, even at your desk during the workday. But keep it gentle. Don’t push to the point of serious pain, and never ‘bounce’ into a stretch.”

I like the idea that you don’t even have to get up from your desk to do your body some good.

One mile rule – “If you live close to town, think of all the places you drive within a mile of your home. In the time it takes to load up the car, drive, find — and possibly pay for — parking, you could probably have walked there. In heavy traffic, a walk even might get you there faster.”

In many cities, driving during the day can also be very stressful with traffic problems and thoughtless drivers.

Tense your muscles – “You can do this almost anywhere and in very little time. A typical example: Tighten your stomach muscles for 3 to 10 seconds. Repeat 4 times. Your co-workers won’t even know you’re working out. These exercises may lower your blood pressure as well. “

Take the stairs – In a single minute, a 150-pound person burns 10 calories walking up stairs, compared with 1.5 calories taking the elevator. In addition, stair-climbing is wonderful cardiovascular activity that is also weight-bearing. So, you are benefiting your bones at the same time. If you work in an elevator building and need to go up to the 40th floor, get off on 35 and climb the last five floors. I am a big fan of stair climbing. You can check out the first of several posts I wrote on it here – Stair-climbing is good for you.

Walk mail – Instead of emailing or texting a co-=worker across the office, walk it over. It gets you out of your seat and on your feet. This adds to your total steps each day and breaks up the damage prolonged sitting does to your system. Actually prolonged sitting is a really hazard of office work. Please check out my Page – Do you know the dangers of too much sitting? for more details.

Stay off the couch – “Put the remote across the room so you have to get up to change the channel. Ride an exercise bike or run in place while you watch, do pushups during commercial breaks, or just tidy up around the living room. You’ll burn calories and be more likely to stay out of the fridge.”

I have enumerated five examples that particularly impressed me. If you want to check all 15 of the ones offered by WebMD , click the link.

Tony