Group fitness trainer Josh Carter also wants to dispel the notion that exercise has to be hard or expensive in order to be effective.
“Movement is movement,” Carter, the owner of Fit Body Boot Camp, told HuffPost. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be hard or re-organize your life. I tell people to just get up 30 minutes earlier and go for a walk if they want to get started. Take the stairs or park far away. It’s two minutes here and five minutes there, but it all adds up.”
Looking for some ways to sneak in some fitness so you hit those 150 minutes per week? Here are some inexpensive options you can try:
Go for a walk instead of a coffee break.
Instead of hitting Starbucks, “most of my employees use their 15-minute breaks to go for a walk around the parking lot,” Carter said. “They talk, they laugh, whatever. Just get your blood pumping.”
Cut your Netflix time in half.
Think of what could happen if you, say, took a brisk walk instead of watching that second “Game of Thrones” episode tonight.
“If people start paying half as much attention to their health as they do to a Netflix marathon ― literally half ― it pays off,” Carter said.
Walk, bike or run to your next event.
The study lists “active transportation” as one of the main ways its healthy participants unintentionally exercised their way to a longer life. Walking to the subway and climbing its stairs counts here. So does running to work or biking to the grocery store.
Get a workout buddy.
Many of us would be more inclined to practice yoga or go for a run if it were framed as a social hangout. So grab a partner, and lengthen your lives together. Your bodies and minds will thank you.
