Sep 4, 2008

How to Get More Exercise Into Your Day



from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

The obesity rate is up all over the world. Coincidently, so is the pressure to look and feel good. Here is a basic guide to get a bit of extra daily exercise and kill some time.

Steps


  1. Clean the house. This kills two birds with one stone. They house will look fab, and so will you.
  2. Take the stairs. An oldie, but a goody. If you work on the 31st floor, get off 2 or 3 floors below and walk that. Great for stretching your legs if you're cooped in an office all day.
  3. Walk to work/school. Alternatively, if you catch public transport, get off a few stops earlier and walk.
  4. Put on some thumpin' tunes and dance around. You won't even realise you're dancing!
  5. Take up a team sport. Another Oldie. Meet new people, as well as getting exercise.
  6. Go out of your comfort zone. Try something new that you might just enjoy.
  7. Get some friends in on the fun! Go for a walk, changing your path everyday.
  8. Play with little kids. They'll keep you going til they drop, or until you do.
  9. When using the computer for extended periods, stretch, and tense various muscles and hold for 5-6 seconds. Good for abs.
  10. Walk the dog/cat/ferret. Two birds again... The pet's happy, and you get exercise.
  11. Play with older kids. Have some old-school fun with a jump rope, for example, or kick a ball around.
  12. Go to the extremes and buy a gym membership. This can be quite costly and use up excessive amounts of time.
  13. If you can't get to a gym, go to the park with kids or some friends and make your own obstacle course, around trees and over the equipment.
  14. When walking, if near a road, play a game with different coloured cars. eg. Blue-do 2 star jumps, yellow, skip 10 times, red-do 2 tuck jumps, white-1 star jump and 1 tuck jump. Make up your own.
  15. Make a game of things. Games are fun, cleaning is not.
  16. When you put the washing out, walk around the clothes line, instead of swinging it around.


Tips


  • Many of these are suitable to do with kids. Why not make it a family thing?
  • If partaking in strenuous exercise, warm up.
  • Keep up your fluids! 8 Glasses of water are recommended daily, but can vary depending on weather, location etc. etc.
  • Many people/websites recommend using expensive specialty equipment. Some sport require this (eg soccer-shinguards, boots (cleats for America)), but if walking or something casual and not stenuous, lace up shoes should do fine.


Warnings


  • Don't go far enough out of your comfort zone to seriously harm yourself
  • Don't walk at night in areas that you know are dodgy. STRANGER DANGER! Alternatively, if you must walk at night, make sure you're surrounded by people, with good lighting.
  • Never do any major exercise in high heels. The pain of a broken ankle is not worth it.


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