5 ways to be active without exercising!

Would you believe it if I told you that over 45% of the population do not get the recommended amount of exercise each week? The reason for this is obviously the excuses we all come up with such as "I don't have time", "I'm too tired", "It's boring" and the most common "I don't feel like it". Yet, the recommended amount of exercise sounds quite easy to get done;

For adults:

At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week
At least two strength training sessions a week

Generally, adults must aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

Teenagers aged 5-18 should aim for at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily.

These guidelines are recommended by the Department of health and human services. As you can see, they state the intensity and type of exercise which might make it sound complicated to people....another shortcut to excuses. But here I am, with 5 ways to be active without having to "exercise":

1. Walk

Walking is so easy and simple and is, in fact, considered as "exercise". Walking to the train station, walking to school, walking to your kitchen, walking up to the teacher....as silly as it sounds, you're moving your body and the several 2-5 minutes of these walking activities will add up at the end of the day. There are actually many forms of walking so it doesn't have to be boring: you could be brisk walking which is the simplest form of walking, power walking where you walk at quite a fast pace, nordic walking where you walk with special walking poles, and many more. Using a pedometer to monitor your steps could also motivate you to walk more.

2. Stairs instead of escelators/elevators

You probably hear that one all the time, yet you don't do it! Going up the stairs instead of using escelators will do miracles for you, I guarantee you will feel your calves getting stronger at the end of the day.

3. Pacing

Yes, pacing, toe-tapping, fidgeting,...make you more active. The following activities count as NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) which refers to the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. We could actually consider all the activities in this post as NEAT.

4. Stretch

This one is so easy. You can stretch in class, at work, while watching TV, while doing your homework, while having lunch. You can stretch whenever and wherever. If you can, take several 2-5 minutes breaks through the day and stretch your arms, hamstrings, neck, knuckles, glutes,...

5. Intermittment standing

You can decrease or even omit the damages caused by prolonged sitting with intermittment standing. This basically means you break your workplace sitting time by standing every now and then. Why not stretch while standing too?

6. Bonus

Do you ever find yourself at home, with nothing to do, yet you don't feel like exercising? Why not dance to music, or on some Xbox/Wii dance game? Or maybe you can take your dog for a walk? Or clean the house, vacuum the floor? There are tons of things you could do that make you more active, all you have to do is be creative!

So here you go, now you won't have any excuses for not being active. Although I gave you 5 ways to be active without having to exercise, there are many other ways to do it. Exercising still stays beneficial for you and would be better if you engage in some sort of exercise during your week. You will feel much better physically and mentally. I will soon post about different ways to exercise from your desk or class seat ;).