Make These Simple Changes to Fit Incidental Exercise Into Your Day
By: Sharon Alger
Tags: Health, Exercise, Fitness Tips, Fitness, Lifestyle

Make These Simple Changes to Fit Incidental Exercise Into Your Day

It adds up over time

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

It’s not always easy to fit regular workouts into our day. Some people have demanding work schedules. Some people are starting to exercise and find it hard to complete a full workout. Others may have chronic illnesses that restrict them from exercising as much as they’d like to.

If this describes you, incidental exercise is worth considering. Incidental exercises are done in smaller increments than a planned, structured workout. All these little actions can add up to a decent amount of movement over one day.

How can incidental exercise help you?

Incidental exercise can bring many positive payoffs into our daily schedule. It can:

help us to increase our calorie expenditure for weight management.

encourage mobility in our bodies. This is important for everyone, particularly the elderly.

do you already do regular exercise? Incidental exercise adds variety to the muscles and tendons your body uses.

it can help you to get more done in a day, by multi-tasking your exercise with other chores.

You can do incidental exercise anytime, anywhere. Seek out opportunities to move at work, at home, or when you’re going places.

Notice the inactive moments in your day

It’s easy to be more active during these times. If you’re waiting for water to boil in the kitchen, remember to do some squats or lunges. If you’re on a phone conversation, pace, or walk around the house and dust as you talk. It’s a fantastic way to get more done in your day.

If you’re watching TV or videos, you can do an endless amount of things while you watch. Some ideas are:

use an exercise bike, elliptical trainer, rowing machine or stepping machine.

sit on a fitness ball and move around.

do some stretches or strengthening exercises.

step on a stepping block. This is a cheap alternative to the machines I mentioned.

try to stand on a balance board.

clean the room as you watch.

If you listen to podcasts or audiobooks, you can do these activities while you listen:

walk.

run.

go on a bike ride.

skate.

Running errands, going places

Always remember you can use your body as a tool for travel. If you think about your body this way, you’ll be able to seek out exercise opportunities more often. As long as you have time, you can do it. I like to declutter my house when I get the opportunity. I fill up bags of clothes we don’t want anymore, or that my kids have outgrown. I carry them down the hill to the local clothing bin, pop them in and walk uphill to return home. The walk itself takes ten minutes, and carrying those huge bags gives me a decent workout. I do the same with books. I declutter unwanted books and walk to the library. I donate the books and return any that I’ve borrowed. This gives me another ten-minute workout.

Take up the attitude of, ‘why drive when you can walk/bike/skate?’ If you have time to cut the drive out, do it. Are you visiting a nearby friend? Buying bread and milk? Always ask yourself if you have time to walk there instead.

We’ve all heard the advice to take the stairs instead of the lift and park your car further away from the building. We hear it so often because it’s excellent advice that’s held up over time. Those extra minutes here and there all add up in one day.

Household chores

Our home has two fireplaces. In the colder months, we need to chop our firewood and carry it all into the house. When my partner and I do this together, we get a good 17-minute workout. We work up quite a sweat, too. I know this isn’t an option for everyone. But, I do hope this example gets you thinking about something similar you could do in your own home.

How do you dry your clothes? Do you use an electric dryer, or do you hang them on a clothesline? We got rid of our electrical dryer years ago. We save money on our electricity bill and know we’re helping the environment. But best of all, we’re moving our bodies to dry our clothes, instead of sitting on our bottoms.

I’ve written before about my endometriosis. Some mornings, I’m in so much pain, that getting out of bed and walking around is very difficult. I’m hunched over and hobbling, to begin with. Quite often, when I’m feeling like this, I’ll have a cup of tea to wake up. Then, I’ll get last night’s laundry out of the machine, and hang them on the indoor or outdoor clothesline.

Because I’m in pain, I go at my own, slow pace. The bending down to pick up clothes, and reaching up to peg them on the line loosens up my stiff back. Before I know it, I’m able to walk around with more ease. This is an excellent example of how incidental exercise can help us with our mobility.

You could also take up gardening as a hobby. It may not be a hard-core workout, but it’s more active than sitting on the couch. Making your home more beautiful as a result is its own reward.

Play isn’t just for kids

Play is for kids, dogs, and believe it or not, grown-ups too! So get a little playful in your life, and lighten up. If you hear your favorite song, dance along. Take your kids to the park and play on the equipment with them. Learn how to hula hoop with them, for an intense, yet happy, workout. Throw a stick with your dog, or play tug of war with them.

I have two dogs and a gigantic tug-of-war dog toy. Both dogs are strong, and they often pull me to the ground! Tug of war works every muscle in my body, and with two dogs on the other end of the rope, it’s a pretty tough workout. Playing more won’t just raise your calorie output; it’ll also raise the joy in your life. What could be a better way to relieve stress?

You’re only limited by your imagination

Learn to develop an instinct for finding moments for incidental exercise. No matter how busy we are, everyone has gaps of inactivity in our day. Come up with creative ways to fill those gaps. You’ll find you get more done, burn more calories, and even get more enjoyment out of your life.

It’s still important to do regular exercise at a higher intensity than basic chores. But incidental exercise is beneficial for everyone, regardless of fitness levels.