Via Weight Watchers
Good news for gym-avoiders! By sneaking clever mini-moves into your routine, you can be increasing your activity without even realising.
Let’s face it, even if we’ve got the time, the last thing some of us fancy after a busy day is a full work-out.
But getting fit doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym - just get a little more active.
Let’s face it, even if we’ve got the time, the last thing some of us fancy after a busy day is a full work-out.
But getting fit doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym - just get a little more active.
Small Moves, Big Difference
Reaching your fitness goal, whether that’s toning up or losing weight, can be as simple as slipping little tricks into your normal routine. Everyday living – for example, popping out for some milk or sweeping the patio - gives us numerous opportunities to shape up.
Experts refer to this as "lifestyle activity" – the unplanned activities of daily life that can make a big contribution to fitness. “A person can expend energy both by going to the gym and through everyday activities,” says Dr James Levine, an endocrinologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic in the US. “Our studies show that the energy burnt through everyday activities is far more important than we previously imagined.” Fitness editor and author of Exercise and the F word... Fun! Martha Lourey-Bird explains, “The secret is to reduce the time you spend being sedentary, and replace it with active time. Even swapping 10 minutes of couch time with 10 minutes of walking is a great start.”
Reaching your fitness goal, whether that’s toning up or losing weight, can be as simple as slipping little tricks into your normal routine. Everyday living – for example, popping out for some milk or sweeping the patio - gives us numerous opportunities to shape up.
Experts refer to this as "lifestyle activity" – the unplanned activities of daily life that can make a big contribution to fitness. “A person can expend energy both by going to the gym and through everyday activities,” says Dr James Levine, an endocrinologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic in the US. “Our studies show that the energy burnt through everyday activities is far more important than we previously imagined.” Fitness editor and author of Exercise and the F word... Fun! Martha Lourey-Bird explains, “The secret is to reduce the time you spend being sedentary, and replace it with active time. Even swapping 10 minutes of couch time with 10 minutes of walking is a great start.”
At Home
Find Your Groove
Turn on some music while you work. Research by Dr Costas Karageorghis, a sports psychologist at Brunel University in Bristol, suggests that the right music can increase a person’s athletic performance by as much as 20%. He found that athletes who ran while listening to music with a beat that fitted the rhythm of their body movements could endure a fifth more exertion than those without. The message? Put on your favourite tunes and go with the beat.
Tone Your Legs
Get moving while waiting for the kettle to boil. From a standing position, lunge forward with one leg, lowering your back knee towards the floor and dropping your body. Make sure your front knee does not extend beyond your toes. Raise, and repeat with the other leg. Build up to 15 repetitions.
Strengthen Your Calves
Don’t let time spent brushing your teeth go to waste: do some heel raises. Place your feet hip-width apart, look ahead and hold your tummy in. Raise your heels from the ground until you’re on the balls of your feet. Hold for a second, then lower your feet to the ground. Continue until you’ve finished cleaning your teeth – which should be about three minutes.
Bye Bye Batwings
Work out with your benchtop: Stand at arm’s length from your kitchen counter with your hands shoulder-width apart on the edge. Bend your elbows so your chest moves closer to the worktop, then extend your arms and move away. Think of it as a standing press-up, making sure you keep your body straight from head to heels. Do up to three sets of 15. Alternatively, why not try a spot of shadow boxing? Unlike traditional weight training, shadow boxing builds core strength, with the added benefit of improving balance, coordination and agility, plus endurance, flexibility and, of course, stronger, more toned arms.
Work Your Glutes
Help tone the muscles in your bottom while you’re on the phone. With a cordless phone or mobile, you can pace about or walk up and down stairs while chatting.
Outdoors
Play in the park with a thirty-minute game of frisbee. Delight your toddler with hard, constant pushes on the swings to work your arms.
Shape Up In The Garden
Your garden is already an aerobics course, but to get even more out of it, do wide-leg squats when weeding instead of bending from the waist, which can cause back pain. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and point your toes out. Keeping your upper body stretched upwards, lower yourself to a 90-degree angle at the knees.
Squeeze While You Queue
Whether you’re waiting in the doctor’s office or just queuing for a coffee or a bus, use the time to work those gluteal muscles. Just squeeze and release your buttocks for one minute, then draw your belly button towards your spine to work the deep abdominal muscles as well.
Shop Till You Drop
Shop locally instead of driving to the supermarket. Walk briskly to the shops and give your arms some strength training by carrying your shopping home – just make sure you don’t overload yourself, and balance yourself on each side.
Walk
A slow stroll is pleasant, but walking at a constant, brisk pace until you’re slightly breathless tones and strengthens the whole body. Next time you’re out walking, increase your pace and take in some hills to get your heart working and burn more kilojoules in less time.
Drive Time
Your abdominals are one of the easiest muscle groups to train. When you’re in your car, imagine you’re putting on a tight pair of jeans, suck in your tummy and hold the contraction. Then try to sing along with a song on the radio for about three minutes.
At Work
Park as far from the office as possible. Walk the rest of the way and you’ll burn some energy and save petrol. If you use public transport, get off a stop or two earlier.
Walkie Talkies
Schedule ‘walk and talk’ meetings instead of sit-down boardroom meetings, where appropriate. Arrange to walk with colleagues at lunchtime – and remember, walking around the shops counts!
Avoid Escalators And Lifts
These save time, but don’t make you fitter. If you use them all the time, break the habit slowly. If you work on the 10th floor of an office block, take the lift to the ninth and walk up the last flight of stairs. Then add more floors – you’ll get puffed at first, but it does get easier, honestly!
De-Feng Shui Your Office
Make sure your bin, filing cabinet, fax machine and photocopier are as far from your desk as possible, and instead of going to pick up all your print-outs at once, collect them every time you hit ‘print’. Stand to take phone calls when you can or use a bathroom on another floor.
Keep Refreshing
Have a glass of something on your desk at all times; it provides two opportunities to get moving: one to fill the glass to keep your fluid intake up, the other to go to the loo!
Find Your Groove
Turn on some music while you work. Research by Dr Costas Karageorghis, a sports psychologist at Brunel University in Bristol, suggests that the right music can increase a person’s athletic performance by as much as 20%. He found that athletes who ran while listening to music with a beat that fitted the rhythm of their body movements could endure a fifth more exertion than those without. The message? Put on your favourite tunes and go with the beat.
Tone Your Legs
Get moving while waiting for the kettle to boil. From a standing position, lunge forward with one leg, lowering your back knee towards the floor and dropping your body. Make sure your front knee does not extend beyond your toes. Raise, and repeat with the other leg. Build up to 15 repetitions.
Strengthen Your Calves
Don’t let time spent brushing your teeth go to waste: do some heel raises. Place your feet hip-width apart, look ahead and hold your tummy in. Raise your heels from the ground until you’re on the balls of your feet. Hold for a second, then lower your feet to the ground. Continue until you’ve finished cleaning your teeth – which should be about three minutes.
Bye Bye Batwings
Work out with your benchtop: Stand at arm’s length from your kitchen counter with your hands shoulder-width apart on the edge. Bend your elbows so your chest moves closer to the worktop, then extend your arms and move away. Think of it as a standing press-up, making sure you keep your body straight from head to heels. Do up to three sets of 15. Alternatively, why not try a spot of shadow boxing? Unlike traditional weight training, shadow boxing builds core strength, with the added benefit of improving balance, coordination and agility, plus endurance, flexibility and, of course, stronger, more toned arms.
Work Your Glutes
Help tone the muscles in your bottom while you’re on the phone. With a cordless phone or mobile, you can pace about or walk up and down stairs while chatting.
Outdoors
Play in the park with a thirty-minute game of frisbee. Delight your toddler with hard, constant pushes on the swings to work your arms.
Shape Up In The Garden
Your garden is already an aerobics course, but to get even more out of it, do wide-leg squats when weeding instead of bending from the waist, which can cause back pain. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and point your toes out. Keeping your upper body stretched upwards, lower yourself to a 90-degree angle at the knees.
Squeeze While You Queue
Whether you’re waiting in the doctor’s office or just queuing for a coffee or a bus, use the time to work those gluteal muscles. Just squeeze and release your buttocks for one minute, then draw your belly button towards your spine to work the deep abdominal muscles as well.
Shop Till You Drop
Shop locally instead of driving to the supermarket. Walk briskly to the shops and give your arms some strength training by carrying your shopping home – just make sure you don’t overload yourself, and balance yourself on each side.
Walk
A slow stroll is pleasant, but walking at a constant, brisk pace until you’re slightly breathless tones and strengthens the whole body. Next time you’re out walking, increase your pace and take in some hills to get your heart working and burn more kilojoules in less time.
Drive Time
Your abdominals are one of the easiest muscle groups to train. When you’re in your car, imagine you’re putting on a tight pair of jeans, suck in your tummy and hold the contraction. Then try to sing along with a song on the radio for about three minutes.
At Work
Park as far from the office as possible. Walk the rest of the way and you’ll burn some energy and save petrol. If you use public transport, get off a stop or two earlier.
Walkie Talkies
Schedule ‘walk and talk’ meetings instead of sit-down boardroom meetings, where appropriate. Arrange to walk with colleagues at lunchtime – and remember, walking around the shops counts!
Avoid Escalators And Lifts
These save time, but don’t make you fitter. If you use them all the time, break the habit slowly. If you work on the 10th floor of an office block, take the lift to the ninth and walk up the last flight of stairs. Then add more floors – you’ll get puffed at first, but it does get easier, honestly!
De-Feng Shui Your Office
Make sure your bin, filing cabinet, fax machine and photocopier are as far from your desk as possible, and instead of going to pick up all your print-outs at once, collect them every time you hit ‘print’. Stand to take phone calls when you can or use a bathroom on another floor.
Keep Refreshing
Have a glass of something on your desk at all times; it provides two opportunities to get moving: one to fill the glass to keep your fluid intake up, the other to go to the loo!
Vane Recruitment
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