We’ve all heard it time and time again: “just take the stairs” or “park your car in the farthest away spot you possibly can”. But in all reality, 2020 has taken away some of our usual opportunities to add in more movement to our daily routine. Most of us working-from-home-ers get as much movement as walking from the kitchen to the bedroom and back again – throw in the occasional home workout or trip to the grocery store and call it good. Olympus is here to show you how to realistically add more movement into your daily routine.
1. Get On a Workout Schedule
Most people say they workout often, but does that mean two days out of the week you walk your dog around the neighborhood and call it a “workout”, or are you set with a weekly routine of resistance training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? Needing a quick accountability check? Honestly ask yourself if you set aside the time for a solid workout – if not, well, that’s the first place you’ll want to start. Set up a time block on your calendar to get in a sweat session, even if it’s just for 20 minutes. Sign up for an online class, buddy up with a friend or neighbor, or take advantage of your community’s fitness center for an added layer of accountability. Put an alarm on your phone or a reminder on your calendar and stick to the schedule.
Keeping to regular exercise also improves mental health in more ways than you’d expect, including stress reduction, ease of anxiety and depression, better focus for those with ADHD, higher self esteem, better sleep, and overall more energy. So, what does your workout routine look like?
2. Clean Up Your Place
While we’re all for having someone else do the dirty work of cleaning up our home for us, doing an hour of household chores, like dishes, laundry, cooking, and tidying up or cleaning can easily burn a couple hundred calories. Not only that, but it helps us get our bodies moving to increase circulation, strengthen our muscles, and improve balance. Throw on some headphones and jam out to your favorite music to really pump up the pace (and your heart rate).
3. Spend Time with Fido
We know your dog’s ears are about to perk up for this one: get out and spend more time with your pup! All too often your dog (or even your cat) could use a lot more playtime and attention. It’s not our fault: we get wrapped up on back-to-back meetings or calls, then after-work exercise, then dinner, then our favorite TV series, and then bed time. Meanwhile, our furry companion is sitting around wishing you’d just take them out for a ball-throwing session here and there.
On average, most pets require about 30 minutes of play time everyday for a healthy life, so why not shave off a few minutes of rewatching Game of Thrones and spend some quality one-on-one time with your four-legged friends. Buy them a new toy and hangout while playing inside together. Take them to the local dog park to meet new doggie friends. Go for a trail run in the early morning before work – you and your furry friends will love the extra time spent together! Not only are you exercising and getting in some movement here, but your pets are too!
For more healthy lifestyle tips and tricks, make your way over to our other Olympus blog posts today!