Friday, July 30, 2010

Exercise: Body & Mind  

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12 Ways to Sneak More Activity into Your Day

Common Activities that Cut Your Risk of Disease and Help You Live Longer

Making Exercise a Routine

12 Ways to Sneak More Activity into Your Day Top

If you think a gym workout offers your only regular chance to exercise, you need to explore the everyday opportunities to sneak more physical activity into your life. Try to incorporate even a few ideas into your daily or weekly schedule to boost your activity level.

1. Go for a family walk after dinner.
2. Whenever you drive, park your car as far away from the entrance as possible.
3. Play with your kids in the backyard—shoot some hoops, play catch with a football, toss a Frisbee or even play tag.
4. Record a yoga or other exercise program on TV, then participate in the comfort of your own home at a time that is convenient for you.
5. Put on some after-dinner music and dance.
6. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
7. Get a pedometer to track the number of steps you take each day. Set a goal to slowly increase your number of daily steps.
8. Make an "activity date" with your family or friends once a week to do something fun and active together, such as ice skating, swimming, or cycling. Regularly rotate the activities.
9. Pick up the pace around the house and in the yard as you vacuum, dust, rake and do other household chores.
10. Plant a garden and regularly weed, fertilize and prune it.
11. If you’ve got a dog, take him for a nightly walk. If you don’t own a dog, offer to walk your neighbor’s dog a few times a week.
12. Ask your spouse or a neighborhood buddy to walk with you a few mornings each week before work.

Common Activities that Cut Your Risk of Disease and Help You Live Longer Top

We all know that aerobic activities, like running, skiing, swimming, and tennis increase your heart rate and burn off calories. But did you know that you could also lose weight and boost your energy without ever leaving your house? If you ever feel winded by moving furniture or scrubbing your kitchen floor then you’re exercising hard enough to enjoy real health benefits – in numerical terms, burning 4.5 or more calories a minute if you weight about 130 pounds or 6 calories a minute if you weigh about 180. (The heavier you are, the more calories an activity burns).

To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you’re taking in. To lose one pound of fat, you need to burn off 3,500 calories. That means if you burn about 200 calories a day beyond your normal output by doing common activities like washing a car or pushing a lawn mower, you’ll lose a pound of fat in less than 3 weeks. Now add this calorie burning to a healthy diet and you’ll cut your risk of disease and live longer without ever walking into the gym.

Making Exercise a Routine Top

Motivation strikes! You go out and buy new sneakers, the latest trendy work out clothes, and joined the gym—not only a month-to-month membership, but a full year commitment! You figure that all the money you put into this exercise endeavor will surely keep you motivated. Yet, six months into the program, you find exercising at the bottom of your long To Do List. You're not alone; many people who begin exercise programs drop out before the six-month mark.

Here are a few tips that may help you stay motivated and committed to your routine.

1. Treat your workouts like a non-negotiable appointment. When your To Do List becomes longer and longer and time feels increasingly shorter and shorter, exercise may be the first thing to go. Classify exercise as a high priority—not last on the list or an optional appointment. Also, exercising on the same days at the same time will help your routine become a fixture in your life. Before you know it, not going to the gym will feel unusual.
2. Set realistic and attainable goals. For example, "I will look like an athlete after two weeks of exercising" is not likely. Rather, set short-term goals as stepping-stones to your ultimate, long-term goals. For instance, be proud of yourself if you make it to the gym two or three times a week consistently for one month. Commitment can be very challenging and a great accomplishment to be proud of. As you attain each goal, you gain encouragement and further motivation.
3. Find an exercise buddy whose goals and interests are similar to yours. A friend or family member cannot only make exercise more fun, but can also add that extra motivation you need and vice versa. Sometimes all you need is to hear your buddy say "Ready for the gym today?" and you'll feel a renewed commitment and obligation.

If you've fallen out of your exercise routine, sit down and think about what caused your program to fail. Were you bored, have too many other commitments, or were the workouts too hard that you began to dread them? Try to create a new plan using the tips above. Remember, any amount of time exercising is a good starting point leading to a healthy, active, and rewarding lifestyle.