Easy ways to use exercise to improve your well-being.

Exercise is one of the best ways of improving your sense of well-being. Sometimes, however, you might feel a lack of motivation to get you going. Here are a few simple ways of including some exercises into your daily life before you take the next step of joining a Gym or sports clubs etc.

A lovely way of exercising is walking. It’s really easy to do and doesn’t put too much stress on your joints. Also, you can do it almost anywhere. I walk during the TV Ad breaks! If you walk briskly enough (and this is important if you want to lose weight,) you can fit between 300 to 500 steps during the average commercial break. Sitting down for too long watching TV is not good for your health and well-being so getting up and walking up and down your living room is simply a no brainer. Remember to wear non-slip footwear and to turn on alternate legs and you’ve got a great little mini-workout. You can quickly tally up 2000 to 3000 steps during an average TV programme. So forget using the remote control to channel hop during the advert breaks and get walking instead. The feeling of satisfaction you get is great and your body will thank you for it too.

And this leads me to another easy way of increasing your exercise. Put the remote control out of reach! It’s so easy to change channels by using this little device we have to hand. How about replacing it back with the TV? You automatically have to get up and down from your seat several times in one evening to change channels that way. To make this even more effective you can even pop in a few low key exercises or stretches whilst you’re up. The key here is to get you moving and stretching.

Pep up your chores. We all have to keep our homes clean, so how about incorporating some exercises into your chores? When you are vacuuming, do some lunges rather than just using the vac. Instead of using a long-handled duster all of the time, only use this for those places you really can’t reach. Combine stretches instead. And for those low-level places such as skirting boards, make sure you stretch and reach again. Have fun designing your own cleaning workout and include some upbeat music. Your chores will be completed in super-quick time; you’ll have fun and burn extra calories too.

Exercise whilst waiting for the laundry to finish or the carrots to cook (or whenever you get that five minutes to spare) How about doing a few press-ups against the kitchen or utility wall? Jog on the spot? A few lunges are ideal. Don’t overdo it and remember when your muscles are cold you don’t want to go to your maximum. The idea is just to get yourself moving rather than just standing there.

You’ll have heard this one before, but it works: use the stairs rather than the lift. It doesn’t take any more time in the long run and you will use those thigh muscles which will help burn calories quite quickly. As you get fitter you can start to jog up the stairs or walk up the two steps at a time to add intensity.

If you use a car to drive to work, try parking a short distance away if possible. Similarly, if you take the bus or train can you get off a stop or a station or two further from your workplace? Equally, park in the farthest space from the store entrance when you do your weekly shop. The added walk will soon increase your daily steps.

Speak to colleagues rather than email them. I must admit this is a favourite of mine. You can combine taking the stairs, getting up from your desk, and seeing how the company operates by going to different departments. You can sometimes sort out your query quicker by having a face-to-face conversation. Should you need a record of the conversation for some reason you can soon send out a quick summary email.

I hope you have enjoyed this short article and if you will soon be bringing exercise into your daily life.

Look out for more blogs from me when I’ll be covering other subjects that will help you look after your health and well-being.

Susan Young