Very few of us are unaware of the benefits of exercising - particularly when we are trying to lose weight. Just about every doctor and healthy organization in the country has endorsed the importance of exercise in maintaining health. A half an hour a day of moderate physical activity is the key to better health and easier weight loss. The most healthy diet in the world won’t take off as much weight if you don’t add exercise to the mix.
But for many people, the thought of exercise is about as exciting as getting a root canal. It can seem boring, like another chore we don’t have time for in our busy day, even hard and painful.
Perhaps the problem is the activities you think of as “exercise.” Here are 10 activities that you probably won’t think of first when someone tells you to get more exercise:
1. If you have children, go outside and play a rousing game of tag with them. This will make exercising a family activity that is not only fun, but something that everyone participates in on a regular basis. You’d be surprised at how many calories you’ll burn without it seeming like work. Besides having a lot of fun, your kids will remember the times you share with them for the rest of their lives.
2. Make walking through favorite places a regular part of the time you give to yourself. Walking for 30 minutes at a moderate pace will burn 450 calories and you’ll feel great. Wear comfortable shoes and try to vary the places you walk. If you love to shop, go to the mall and window shop while you walk. Or take a walk in your local park. If you have a dog, you have a ready-made companion to share your walks with.
3. Get an exercise partner. If you have a friend who is also trying to lose weight, you can help each other, plus enjoy your friendship at the same time. You are both more likely to stick to your exercise plan if you have a daily exercise date with someone you enjoy sharing time with.
4. Get a mini-trampoline and let your inner child out to play! Mini-trampolines are inexpensive, easy to set up, and you can store them in small spaces. If the weather is bad, you can bring it into the living room and work out while you watch the news or your favorite program. Mini-trampolines provide you with a low impact surface on which to bounce, dance, and have fun.
5. Take up a new active hobby. Do you realize that gardening is great exercise? You can actually burn more calories from a half hour of energetic gardening then you will from a brisk walk.
6. Go swimming at your local club, pool, or YMCA. Annual memberships at your local Y are very inexpensive compared to most fitness clubs. They even have financial aid and scholarships available. Swimming is a great fitness activity for people of all ages. It gets your heart rate up, but puts very low stress on your joints. During a hot summer, it can be a very fun and pleasant activity as well.
7. Take an exercise class. When you turn exercise into a social activity, it becomes a lot more fun and gives you another place to meet new people. You will find classes available for all age groups and skill levels. There are also many different types, such as aerobic dancing, kick boxing, step classes, and aerobic jazz. Another benefit is that when you have to pay for an activity, you are much more likely to use it.
8. Go dancing. A half hour to an hour of dancing can burn more calories than running, and it’s a lot more fun! This is something you can do on a regular basis with your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, or your friends.
9. Take a bike ride. If you don’t live far from where you work, you might even consider riding your bike to work several times a week. Or riding to the store. Even slow bicycling can burn a lot of calories. Plus, you’ll use muscles that you don’t regularly use in other aerobic activities, such as walking.
10. Challenge yourself to reach different goals. Set fitness or exercise goals for yourself and then strive to meet them. You might set up new goals for yourself every week. Exercise does not have to mean drudgery, or doing the same activity every day until you’re sick of it. Make a list of many different activities that you enjoy, and then pick a different one every day. Find new ways to burn extra calories, such as using the stairs instead of the elevator. Or parking at the far end of the parking lot so you can walk more. Above all, make it fun and you’ll do it regularly!
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