Six Easy Ways to Add ‘Fit’ness to Your Day

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You don’t need to spend your life in a gym to get fit. In fact, it’s often the people who plan to work out who end up not exercising at all.

Simply incorporate these easy tweaks and tricks into your routine to see the fitness benefits really stack up:

  1. Jump-start your day – literally. Remember jumping jacks and skipping rope? Doing a mere 5 minutes of either everyday before your morning shower is enough to get your blood pumping and give your complexion a radiant glow that will last all day. Plus, your metabolism stays elevated afterwards, which means you burn more calories – even when you’re resting.
  2. Park inconveniently, meaning a couple of blocks from where you’re going. Or, get off the bus a couple of stops before your own. Over time, these pocket-sized brisk mini-walks can add up to miles covered, pounds lost – and gas money saved.
  3. Avoid escalators and elevators. Stair climbing is one of the best aerobic workouts and lower-body toners around.
  4. Desktop belly toning. Strengthen your tummy muscles while you’re using your computer or watching TV: With your feet on the floor, sit up straight. Press your lower back into the chair, tilting your pelvis and tightening your abdominal muscles at the same time. Think about pressing your navel into the back of your chair. Hold for 10 seconds – remember to breathe – and build up to half a minute, repeating as often as you can. Nobody else will be able to tell (though you’ll feel it).
  5. Wash the car, help somebody move or weed the garden. Lots of chores we tend to put off, pay others to do or try to get out of doing are actually great workouts that tone, increase flexibility and have fat-burning benefits.
  6. Dance. Whether you’re into polka, hip-hop, ballroom or country-western, dance lessons are a fun and fantastic way to broaden your horizons as you whittle your waistline.

Remember to get your doctor’s okay before adding any exercise to your routine, and then ease your way into the exercises.

Source: Prevention.com

 

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