If you are very conscious of your calorie intake and expenditure, and are too busy to make it to the gym due to the pressure of work, family and/or stress, a good idea is to do every day activities in a slightly different manner. Just by altering some of your typical daily routines, you can burn extra calories and have fun doing it! The following tips are excellent for people on the go and are a great way to be creative in burning fat cells, while you go about your day!
- Set your alarm clock 10 Minutes earlier: Upon waking up in the morning do 10 minutes of exercise to get your blood flowing, muscles warmed up and mind set for the day. Do 3 different exercises every morning consecutively for the 10 minutes without rest and then have your breakfast. You will start you day off wide awake and with better focus, as well as burn off the left over calories from the night before you refuel.
- Take the stairs: If you have the luxury of being close to a flight of stairs on your way to something, use them. If you have stairs in your apartment building, at your workplace or in your home, you can really get creative with exercising on them. A few things to try are taking 2-3 stairs at a time, jumping with feet together step by step, side stepping or if you're really ambitious you can go down on all fours with your hands leading!
- Take the longest route: One of the best ways to get in some extra activity is by taking the longest route you can to your next daily appointment providing it doesn't interfere with being on time. Take the scenic route and try a different one each time. Park your car at the end of the parking lot to force you to walk to and from it.
- Sleep naked at night: When your body is cold it burns calories trying to warm up. You can also turn the air conditioning on if you're really serious about fat burning so your body has to work extra hard to stay warm. Of course, for some this might be a tad uncomfortable, however it works because you are burning calories with the required energy your body is using to reach a more comfortable temperature.
- Do your cardio in shorts and a tank top: Just like sleeping naked, when you have fewer clothes on while doing cardiovascular activity, your body has to work extra hard to warm up, therefore utilizing more energy and burning more calories.
- Exercise during TV commercials: This is a perfect time to get up off of the couch and get moving. For the duration of the advertisements, do some light cardio such as jumping jacks, split jumps, tuck jumps, running on the spot or skipping. Otherwise you can also do some basic resistance exercises like push ups, crunches or dips. Over an hour show, you might get in about 15 – 20 minutes of calorie burning activity!!!
- Invest in a pedometer: These are great for calculating how many steps you took in a day or during a cardiovascular walking or running activity. First off figure out the average steps you take in a day or activity so you can focus on raising the bar. Make a game of it and try to break your record every day.
- Perform isometric exercises: When you have a few extra moments or require a little work break, utilize exercises that require holding a specific position. A great one is wall sitting where you have your back against the wall and your legs at a 90 degree angle while you hold that pose for as long as you can or until your legs give out. Great for the butt and quads! Another effective isometric exercise is doing a plank where you are in a push up like position but on your elbows. Great for the abs and core! Try 1 minute to start and then work your way up to 5 minutes!
- Perform interval walking: If it normally takes you 15 minutes to get to a certain destination, try to make it in 10 minutes! You can also do 5 minutes of slow walking followed by 1 minute of speed walking and repeat until you get to where you are going. This increases your heart rate which leads to burning more calories!
- Chew gum: I know you think this sounds crazy, however you burn 1 calorie every time you bite down on a piece of chewing gum! It's not a lot, but it all contributes.
So as you can see, there are all kinds of creative and unique ways that you can incorporate into your daily routine that will help keep you in shape! Have fun with it and it will be enjoyable!
James Erdt
Founder / President
joyzone.com
