We all know we are supposed to be exercising, we all want to help our bodies to feel fitter and age well, but time and knowing where to start seem to be the biggest barriers to this one.
We often think we need to get to a gym, give an hour or two every few days to it. Perhaps it feels costly, too, maybe thinking we need to buy special equipment, gym memberships and workout clothes.
It can be hard to carve out extra time if this isn’t something you already have built into your weeks and tricky to know what to do with that time. Which is where these suggestions come in, a way to exercise that’s easy to fit in with your life.
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Walk
Walking is a fantastic form of exercise. It’s low impact, weight bearing, good for your bones and joints and anyone can do it. It also comes with the bonus of getting outside breathing in fresh air and soaking up that vitamin D.
Walk to work, walk round the block to give yourself a break from your desk, walk the dog, walk with friends, walk to the shops, just walk, walk, walk!
Pick a workout, any workout
It doesn’t have to be an hour or two in the gym.
Go to YouTube or TikTok and there’ll be thousands of videos telling you how to exercise. Pick any one of them and do it today.
You might do some Pilates, a quick HIIT workout or perhaps you’ll learn to dance.
Go for anything that interests you. You can come back to it time and again or pick something completely fresh and new every time.
There are plenty of options that don’t require special equipment, for you to get changed, for you to need to give an hour to it. There are five minute options there, just start there.
Get yourself a fitness tracker
If you need a boost and a little extra motivation, give this a try.
A tracker will give you an idea of your daily steps, it will tell you when you’ve hit your targets, it’ll remind you to move, it might track your water intake and food, they can do so much.
You can set yourself a target and this will help you to keep on track. Maybe you want to walk 7000 steps a day? Set it up, and this might just get you moving a bit more to ensure you stay on course.
This might be the little nudge you need to take more steps each day and change some of your habits.
There are hundreds to choose from, I have the Samsung Fit3 which I got at a great price and it’s exceeded my expectations.
Exercise snacking
Have you heard the term ‘exercise snack’? The idea is that it’s just a quick burst of movement that you can fit into your day.
This one can be your fastest and easiest change, because you can start it right now.
You’ll need to have something of a mindset shift with this one. We know that the guidance is to aim for moderate exercise for at least 150 minutes a week. That does not have to happen all in just 1, 2 or 3 sessions. In fact, it’s better to move more often anyway, being inactive for long periods of time is detrimental to our health. And so, little and often exercise snacking comes in.
The chances are that whilst joining a gym, getting to the gym and fitting an hour workout in might seem overwhelming, spending two minutes doing jumping jacks seems much more achievable.
Move while doing everyday things. Boiling the kettle, completing your daily Wordle, brushing your teeth, on the phone, any of those little moments in your day that you could utilise.
All of those things you usually do standing or sitting still, just add a little movement to them.
Lunges while you wait for the kettle, squats as you Wordle, you get the idea.
Then on top of those, spend two minutes after your lunch running on the spot, spend a couple of minutes when you get changed doing bicycle crunches, do 20 sit ups before your shower.
Every one of these things adds up. Before you know it, you’ll be doing twenty minutes of exercise every day without even noticing it. Tag on a walk or a short YouTube workout when you want to and you’ll be smashing it.
Even if it takes you just a few minutes, you’re moving and all movement is going to be good for you.
Remember to squat!
Women, we need to squat. Squatting is fantastic for our balance and posture, our core strength, improving our bone density, strengthening our pelvic floor and stimulating muscle mass. They are powerhouses for us as we age well. Make squats one of your exercise snacks each day, even just ten a day is going to make a difference.
The biggest takeaway here should be that any and all movement makes a difference and it all adds up.
You do not need to be doing laps in the pool, sweating from a long run, cycling for miles or trying to find hours of time to tick this box. Of course, those things are all great, but if you’re trying to start somewhere, just start small and start here.
Moving your body should be something you can fit into your every day life. Just a part of your normal habits as you take care of yourself.
What do you love to do?
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