How to Squeeze in Exercise Everyday

How many times have you thought “if I just had a few more hours, then I could spend some time on my wellness”?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could give ourselves the gift of time? I know I certainly could use some more time every day! How about an extra hour in the day that could be completely dedicated to our fitness and healthy lifestyle goals?

But instead, we often struggle to fit fitness into our day.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you more time in your day – I really wish I could – but I can share this little life hack with you: You don’t need down time to step it up your fitness.

There are actually many opportunities to squeeze in an exercise or two in nearly all of your daily tasks!

Here is a list of five ways that you can sneak some fitness into your day:

Wake up with abs

Let’s be honest, not many of us jump out of bed immediately when the alarm goes off. I know I almost always take a minute or two to come back to reality, to think about the day ahead and maybe even contemplate getting in a few more zzzs.

As long as you are likely to stay curled up in bed for a few more minutes you can put those minutes to good use with a quick and easy ab workout from the comfort of your mattress.

Lie flat on your back sideways across your bed so that your legs hang off of one side of your bed (with the edge of your mattress meeting the back of your legs) and your arms reach past the other side of the bed when you put them above your head.

Grab a pillow and hold it with both hands and extend your arms above your head.

Now bring your legs up so that your feet are aimed towards the ceiling and your knees are slightly bent.

At the same time, lower your arms to meet your knees and transfer the pillow to your knees.

Once the pillow is tucked between your knees, straighten out again.

Repeat by raising your knees (with pillow) back towards the ceiling and lifting your arms from above your head.

Continue this for a few minutes while you plan your day and gather your morning thoughts.

Brushing your teeth

Dentists say that you are supposed to brush your teeth for at least two minutes, twice a day. While you are managing your oral hygiene you can multi-task and get in a few minutes of squats, balance or standing side crunches every day!

Side crunches

Hold your arms in a T shape and bend both hands towards your mouth.

Use one hand to brush your teeth. As you brush, lift your left knee and cross it towards your right elbow, crunching your midsection slightly to meet joints. Repeat on the other side.

Continue these movements for the length of time that you are brushing your teeth. (If you use mouthwash, that is another minute or two to side crunch).

Rinse and Repeat

Okay, this one is easy. Do squats and lunges in the shower.

While you shampoo and condition your hair and also while you wash your face – do slow, deep squats.

When you shave your legs or lather up, do a slow deep lunge and hold steady.

Deskercise

A lot of you sit at a desk during the day. You may spend hours at a time checking e-mails and taking phone calls.If you do not have an under desk cycler like my Cubii to add some movement into your day consider the following.

Sneak some weights into your day. Use light weight dumbbells to do curls and flies while on speaker phone for those long conference calls - just be careful of those zoom calls on video.

If you spend most of your time typing and need your hands, bring ankle weights and do leg extensions. Simply sit straight up and slowly extend your legs out in front of you from their bent position until they are straight and parallel to the floor. Slowly lower and repeat.

Washing dishes

While you stand in front of your sink to rinse or wash your dishes at the end of the evening, work your calves by doing calf raises.

You can actually do these anywhere and anytime that you are standing in one place. I often find myself doing calf raises while standing in line at the grocery store.

While these might seem like small steps towards your fitness goals they are moving your closer – and remember small steps, done consistently over a period of time can lead to big results.

I challenge you to add in at least one of these activities into your day with these ideas.

Which one will you try today?