5 Ways to Stay Active
Live a Healthy Lifestyle and Stay Active
5 Simple Ways to Boost your Metabolism
Everyone is busy these days. So if you feel like you don’t have time to exercise, you’re not alone. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), less than two-thirds of adults in the United States get the recommended minimum amount of exercise which is according to ACSM guidelines 30-60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity five times a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous activity three times per week. Unless you’re a part of the one-third of adults getting their recommended amount of daily exercise, here’s 5 ways to keep you active even on your busiest days.
Break Up Your Exercise
An hour of exercise is an hour of exercise whether it’s done all at once or in 4 intervals of 15 minutes. According to ACSM, one continuous session and multiple shorter sessions (of at least 10 minutes) are both acceptable to accumulate desired amount of daily exercise. So if you’re pressed for time, try breaking up your workout into smaller increments.
Up the Intensity
Upping the intensity burns more calories in a shorter amount of time. According to a study released in the Journal of Physiology, 2.5 hours of sprint interval training produced similar biochemical muscle changes to 10.5 hours of endurance training and similar endurance performance benefits1. This means the higher intensity exercise produced the same benefits in a substantially less time. If you don’t have time to exercise for an hour, try moving more vigorously for 20 minutes with activities such as sprint interval training, high intensity interval training, circuit training and Tabata.
Commercial Time
After winding down from a long day, some of us watch a little TV. Generally, a half-hour TV show has about 8-10 minutes of total commercial time. Well, don’t be a couch potato put your body to work and torch some calories during those commercials. Exercises like lunges, jumping jacks, sit ups, crunches, push-ups, squats, and burpees require no equipment and are perfect for those boring commercial breaks.
Do the Little Things
We all have little opportunities to get some exercise during our busy daily schedule. Parking further out and walking more, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and bringing in groceries one bag at a time are just a few ways you can add activity to your day without having to make time.
Multitask
Who said you couldn’t burn calories while taking care of other daily chores? Household chores aren’t usually viewed as a mode of exercise, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a means to do so. Dusting, vacuuming, taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, scrubbing floors, and other household activities are an excellent way to burn calories while tidying up.
Being busy doesn’t mean you can’t be active. Make exercise a-part of your daily life by incorporating these 5 lifestyle tips into your busy day.
references
1. The Journal of Physiology, September 15, 2006 575,901-911.
Category: Exercise, Physical Fitness
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