Sneaky Exercise

These four pictures are of my four children … and yes I integrate fitness and a healthy lifestyle into our family life.

People ask me questions all the time about fitting in exercise when they are faced with obstacles such as time constraints, money struggles, motivation, consistency, etc.  There is no magic answer, but there are some sneaky ways to squeeze in some movement and you do NOT need a gym if that is not for you; nor in the budget.  This is the kind of blog or article you will read and pick apart.  Some of the ideas may be like a lightning bolt and you think ‘YES! I can do that’ and some you may think ‘NO WAY I would do that’ … and that is okay.  We are all sneaky in different ways 🙂  There is no one size fits all and these are just some suggestions to get your mind cranking (and your body moving).  We’ll talk about eating on a budget and the ever illusive motivation in another post.

Sneaking in exercise:

• Don’t use the kids as an excuse – do it WITH them – or use them literally … like if you have a baby, strap that baby on your body and do some squats or push ups.  As they get bigger, toss them around, carry them around, do push ups and squats, etc.  I’ve done squats while pushing a swing at the park.
• Instead of fast forwarding thru commercials, because let’s face it, we all record things now and fast forward thru commercials, use it as a challenge to see how many squats, crunches or push ups or lunges or whatever you can do during the commercials.  Heck, get up and run up and down your stairs if you have some during the commercials.
• Do squats or lunges or something similar while you get ready in the morning, like while you brush your teeth, while in the shower, while blow drying your hair, etc.
• Do leg raises or bicycle crunches while watching a show, try out some yoga poses if you like, or even stretches.
• Do calf raises on the stairs, maybe 25 at a time, every time you have to go up or down.
• You’ve heard it before; but park in the back of the parking lot – as long as it’s safe, to get extra steps.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator – if possible – and again – as long as it is safe.
• Stand up when you talk on the phone.  Do some twists or stretches, or just walk/pace.
• Dance like a maniac and crank up the music while you clean.
• Dance like a maniac and crank up the music while you cook.
• Have more sex with your spouse, heart racing sex and get creative and learn new things and yes I just said that. Obviously only speaking to committed stable married folks, lol.
• If you have a dog, walk your dog.  If you dog does not do walks very well, get training.  Offer to walk someone else’s dog.  Walk with your spouse or kids.
• If you live in a neighborhood like I do where you have to walk to a community mailbox to get your mail, as opposed to your driveway, walk a little extra.  Go around the block, go the long way.  Get in extra steps.
• Learn how to do tricep dips – you can do them in your living room or dining room or at the kitchen table – you can do them while watching t.v.
• Invest in some hand weights and resistance bands and learn how to do some simple strength training exercises in your living room – while watching t.v. – or listening to music, etc.
• I have a small indoor trampoline that seriously sits right in my living room, and me and my kids jump on it all the time, while watching t.v. or not – or just on our way to the bathroom and back, it doesn’t matter.
• Invest in a hula hoop or a jump rope – you can have all kinds of fun with exercise at home utilizing these tools.
• If you have Netflix and have access to their online offerings; there are tons of exercise options there, so you can use your membership with Netflix to watch free exercise videos, etc.  Learn something new.
• YouTube is a great resource to watch free exercise videos and learn something quick and fun (and new) to do at home; with the resources you have on hand.
• If you don’t have a buddy, try to get one.  It helps tremendously with accountability and motivation.
• Get up 10 minutes early and commit to 5 Sun Salutations ~ if you don’t know what that is or how to do them ~ google it or find an example on YouTube.
• Take up Geocaching as a hobby with your kids/family … totally fun and physical activity and cheap.  If you don’t know what that is, google it.
• Rearrange some furniture every now and then  – but don’t hurt yourself.
• Dust and clean behind the refrigerator and washing machine and dryer and big ticket items that get ignored 🙂 Clean out the garage.  It is good for your house and good for your body
• A lot of people waste time surfing the internet/Facebook on their phones, laptops, iPads, etc.  Stand up while doing these things.  You burn more calories standing up than sitting down.
• Rediscover your love of riding a bike.
• If nothing else, remember this:  Your body was made to bend, twist, push and pull.  Make sure your are doing all four of these activities in a day – and hopefully more than once 🙂

As always, make champion choices,
The Healthy Habit Lady