Exercise Without Effort: 5 Ways To Incorporate Fitness Into Your Daily Life

Staying trim, in shape and healthy is essential to stave off obesity, reduce the risk of heart disease, and supply our bodies with the essential nutrients and goodness it requires. Feeling better also makes us better people – if we’re healthier, we’re happier.

But the word exercise is, to a lot of people, akin to anathema. However, you don’t have to make exercise and fitness a mind-numbing, soul-sapping chore – there are lots of ways it can be incorporated quite comfortably into your daily lives. Here, then, are five of them.

Cycle To Work

Cyclists are a burgeoning breed, with cycling cities and lycra shorts popping up like some kind of bell-ringing, pedal-powered juggernaut.  So if you drive or catch the bus in to work, why not join the ranks of others who are ditching their cars for leisure bikes and cycle to your workplace.

Cycle lanes are everywhere, so you’ll be safe in the company of other like-minded two-wheeled companions; and you’ll burn off a significant amount of calories en route. Just make sure you have a quick shower when you get in to work – it’s not pleasant sitting next to someone with a sweaty case of saddle-crotch for an entire working day.

Fruit And Veg

OK, so you might not want to gobble the recommended 5-a-day, but even something as simple as having a banana for or with your breakfast or slipping a Satsuma in your lunch box as a post-sarnie refresher can make all the difference. Leftover veg from the Sunday roast? Then mash it up, whack it in some Tupperware and have bubble ‘n squeak on Monday.

Drink Water

Experts and nutritionists recommend you drink approximately two litres of water every day. Water regulates your body temperature and makes it easier for nutrients to travel to your organs and tissues, as well as helping remove unpleasant bugs and waste. Not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration, joint, muscle and back pain, headaches and constipation. It can even make your wee smell strong.  Need any more reasons to quaff plenty of H2O? Nah, thought not.

Don’t Get The Lift

If you work in a building on the twenty-first floor, catching the lift up is understandable. If you work on one of the first five, however, it’s simply unforgivable.  So next time your finger’s hovering the lift button, snap yourself out of your lazy, sloth-like slumber and walk up to your office instead. Just think how much fitter you’ll be. You can even run up and down the stairs during your breaks to squeeze in a spot of additional exercise.

Walk The Dog

Canine’s are undisputedly a man’s best friend – and that means helping him stay in shape, too. Those with a four-legged furry companion will undoubtedly already testify that it’s negligible who takes who for a walk around the block or for a brisk stroll in the park.  Incorporating a fifteen minute walk with your pooch into your daily routine is a great way of burning off a few calories, making for a contented canine and a healthier owner. It’s a win-win.

So you see, exercising doesn’t have to involve unnecessary and painful over-exertion or gyrating yourself in front a gym full of sweaty strangers. You can quite comfortably make it part of your daily routine without even really realising it, whether it’s having a banana with your lunch or sifting through the plethora of mountain bikes to cycle to work.

Have you got any suggestions to make exercise an almost un-noticed addition to your daily routine? I’d love to hear from you.