10 Ways to Fit Fitness into your Life
So here’s the deal – NO ONE will ever be able to take as great of care of you as yourself. So it is our job to find the motivation, willpower and stick to it attitude to give ourselves the healthiest life we can. I have worked with people that sometimes find it challenging to fit fitness into their lives either because of lack of motivation or lack of time. Here is a short list of some ideas to help you get started on a more physically fit and physically aware version of yourself!
Waking up to yoga: The a.m. is the perfect time to give yourself 15 minutes to wake up all of your senses with yoga. Think of it like warming up your car in the winter time. Your body will appreciate the extra love and attention you give to it in the morning before you take on the days adventures. Once you get a morning routine down, you can double the joy and close the night out with a yoga sequence to wind down from the day.
Train Exercises: 2 cautions on this one- 1.sorry this one is for people who use city transportation & 2. this is a recommendation, if you think you will fall doing it, hahahaha then don’t try it. This one may seem a bit odd and corny :), but man does it work! So here’s the deal, for anyone who has ever used public transportation and had to stand, you might be able to remember how jerky and non-smooth the rides can be. I like to take advantage of those jerks and use them to build core and hip strength and balance. Here’s how it works – If you don’t have great strength and balance in those parts of your body yet start by just making it a point to always stand with your joints stacked up on the train while holding onto the handles. Incrementally build your strength and comfort resisting the urge of tripping all over the place on each stop and start of the train.
So cool! Now we are pros at that, no matter what is actually going on with the trains motion I can stand strong on my feet, lets take it up a notch. The next thing to do would be to slowly decrease how much you are using the handles for support. You can basically go for how strong you are holding on as a measure and then little by little as you gain the strength remove one finger at a time until you can stand free of hands without reacting to the motions of the train at all.
Once you become a master at this you can bring your attention to your core. No matter what you are doing, make sure you can keep nice and steady breathing, this will help create more space for strength in your body. If you are standing nice and tall during the ride and have to balance mostly free handed, you will have to use your core strength to keep you in balance. This will also build your stability in your hips. And if you feel like getting creative about it you can play with the differences of how wide your legs are, standing with a slight bend in the knees, standing on one leg while the other foot is just hovering over the ground (you should hold on with this one slightly just to be safe :)).
This is, a simple golden way to build hip strength and core stability without taking extra time out of your day.
Take the Stairs!: So many people have a habit of opting out of the steps and always taking the escalator or elevator. If this is your tendency, switch it up. Take any opportunity you can to take the steps and you will add a little bit more fit to your life.
Sit on an exercise at work: This is another awesome one that will not take extra time to do, but you will amazing benefits if you keep to it and integrate it into your life. If you go this route, make sure you have good posture so you don’t stress out different parts of your body and promote unsupportive sitting habits. Some of the benefits you will have from sitting on an exercise ball are: increased balance, building the foundations a mean core, more energy… and you will be the coolest person in your office. That’s always important :). Don’t be intimidated by the idea. Start small if it seems daunting, maybe 10 minutes on the ball every hour and building.
Work on your core during every day motions and chores: Do not overlook the simplicity of every day movements. When you are walking up the steps for example, engage your core. If you are doing chores around the house and you have to lift something, use that as a time to active your muscles and engage them. If you make this a habit you will start to notice simple everyday-ness that can become strength building exercises with repetition.
Make yourself have to walk: If you are a city mouse, maybe stop a few blocks away from your final destination so you have to walk a mile every day. If you live in a city where cars are the way, take as many opportunities as you can to park on the far end of the parking lot. It adds up! If you have a desk job, when possible get up and talk to someone instead of sending an email or calling. This is just better in general for human interaction anyways 🙂
10 minute break every 2-3 hours: If you are a working bee or just doing you, take at least a 10 minute break every few hours to wake up your body with a yoga routine. You owe it to yourself, its not all that natural to be sitting around for 8 hours a day.
Just do it! The greatest brand slogan ever! Put your actions where your mind/thoughts are. If you really value your health or want to start building a genuine appreciation for it, then start finding ways to incorporate into your life. Experiment and try an activity or sport you never have until you find something you can stick to.
Bike to work: You have to get there anyways and if you live in a city, this can actually be faster than sitting in traffic. So, another one of those that you can fit into a jam packed schedule. Ohhh, and you get to be cool and do your part in preserving our environment… “winning!”
Run home from work: This one is for when you seriously have fitness as a part of your life down packed. I loved seeing so many people in London running around the parks after work with all of there belongings in there backpacks = hardcore!.
There is never a better time to take care of you other than NOW. Whatever is holding you up, find something to motivate you and know that your body will appreciate it. Also keep in mind in the starting off phases that exercise is one of those things that will become easier and even give you energy with time once your body has adjusted to difference in energy levels. So go out there, do you, be awesome and get your fitness on!
What are you waiting for! Which one are you going to start with?
