Due to the pandemic, most of our daily activities were halted as a result of lockdown measures. Like many other workers, I was forced to work from home overnight and made my living room my new office space. I spent much more time indoors and working at my ‘home office’. My lifestyle has changed into a sedentary one and this drastic change has caused me lot of discomfort. I actually developed acute sciatic pain that is just killing me.
Fortunately, now that vaccines have been introduced, we can go about our daily activities with ease again. For some people it may be hard to get sportive after such long period of sedentarism. So here are my top 8 tips to redevelop better fitness routines, without visiting the gym or any expensive equipment and in a way you don’t even notice.
1. Exercise While Watching TV
It’s so easy and pleasant to lie on the couch and watch TV when you get home after work. You might take advantage of this opportunity to avoid sitting and unwind from the day’s activities by squeezing in a quick workout. You can for example do some yoga or other stretch exercises, sit ups, squats and lunges. All you need is just a yoga mat really. A 10-minutes workout daily can help tremendously in loosen up strained muscles and do wonders for your health.
2. Take More Walks
Walking is one of the most simple and effective ways to get active during the day. Try to think of ideas to incorporate more walks into your day. Park your car bit further than usual and walk the last distance to your target destination. Or go for a quick walk after lunch. There are tools to make walking more fun.
Walkr is a popular pedometer app that I just love for this purpose. This app is developed by Fourdesire, the award-winning app builder from Taiwan, and was named the Best Game Award by the Apple App Store. It lets you explore the universe as you walk and collect cute asteroids and planets with each step you take and build your own galaxy. It makes walking a real exhilarating experience and gives you a sense of achievements with each walk you have completed.
What’s new…to get you in the holiday mood as Christmas approaches, Walkr will get a jolly twist this season with the new “Reindeer Trek” spaceship. You can now explore the galaxy in this new space shuttle while snowflakes fall from the sky, bringing the joy of Santa in your home.
3. Take the Stairs
Taking the stairs rather than the elevator can also help you stay in shape. If you’re going up a few levels, try to take the stairs unless you’re carrying a hefty burden. This is an easy way to improve your fitness level.
4. Use a Yoga Ball While Working
There are other methods to include exercise daily. You can for example replace your chair with a yoga ball and sit on it to make body movements while working, move your body in certain directions and stretch. Little tweaks can make a big difference.
5. Go on a Shopping Spree
Going shopping also helps because it exercises your legs, arms, core and conditioning while also burning fat. This is definitely one of my most favorite activity to do. But I’d make sure to bring only small amount of cash and leave my bank cards at home, because otherwise I may end up with too many purchases :)
6. Play With Kids
Parents with pre-teen kids cannot agree more: you need lots of energy to play with kids. Those little ones can be running half-marathons without effort. Choose an outdoor game to play with your kids and you will find yourself completely energized after half-an-hour playing. This is also a great way to spend more quality time with your children.
7. Dance!
Play your favorite songs and just dance your heart out. It’s fun and super easy for anyone to do at anytime of the day. And think about it: the average length of a song is around 3 minutes. So you just need to dance 5 songs to get your 15-minutes exercise.
8. Do House Chores
Are you the type who doesn’t like exercising? If you answered yes, you should use this advice and do house chores. Ironing, cleaning, cooking, washing dishes…opt for something you don’t mind doing. It gets you in an active mode and stops you from sitting around (too much)…and your chores are done!
