3 Everyday Activities That Can Improve Your Fitness

What if I told you that by increasing your physical activity by just 30 minutes per day, you could decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease by 15% – and not step foot in a gym. Wouldn’t that be something you would want to, especially if you hate exercising? The truth is there are numerous ways to get in physical activity that don’t involve doing structured exercise workouts.

These are known as unintentional exercise or incidental physical activities. These ways burn more calories as part of a regular daily routine. Let’s look at a few of the common ones broken down into at work and at home activities:

At work

Walking: Getting to and from work are two opportunities to get in some exercise. For example, if you take public transportation to work, get off a stop or two before or after your closest stop to work and walk into work the rest of the way. If you drive, park at the far end of the lot and walk-in. Once inside the building, take the stairs instead of the elevator.

During your lunch hour, walk outside, leaving just enough time to eat the healthy lunch you brought from home.

Need to message a co-worker inside the building? Walk over to their desk instead of sending an email. This exercise’s beauty is two-fold; one, it works the large lower body muscle groups, which burn more calories than smaller muscle groups such as the upper body; two, it doesn’t seem like you are exercising.  

At home

Housework: Opportunities abound while at home. Doing laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the house, doing dishes – the list goes on and on. It all adds up during the day. 

Shopping: Have you been grocery shopping? All those steps counted while you were pushing the grocery cart around the store. Then you had to carry the groceries to your car, into the house and put them away. These everyday tasks work both the upper and lower muscle groups for an overall increased level of fitness. 

Want to improve your fitness level even more? Add in 30 minutes of structured physical activity each day in addition to the unstructured opportunities, and not only will you achieve a higher level of fitness, but you will do so in a shorter amount of time.

Of course, the other half of getting fit is to eat a healthy diet comprised of lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats at a ratio of about 30%, 50% and 20%, respectively.