Have you made fitness one of your New Year’s resolutions? Adding fitness into your day is easier than you think! Making small changes or adjustments to your day can add in a lot of extra steps to help you achieve cardiovascular fitness with minimal effort. You’ll feel better about yourself and you’ll have more energy too. Try adding in these easy tips to your day:
1.) Park farther out from your usual parking spot. Do not try to fight for that closest and most convenient parking spot at the shopping mall or health club. All of those steps add up into miles! For the average person, 2,000 steps equals 1 mile. Getting in those extra steps by walking a little farther every time you parked your car could add up to a few extra miles each day! A few miles is all you need to reap the rewards of cardiovascular fitness, lowered blood pressure, increased energy levels, and a healthier weight.
2.) Wear a pedometer. You are more likely to get moving when you know you are measuring and recording the number of steps you take. Challenge yourself and invite friends and family to join you. Start a walking group in your neighborhood. Fitness becomes fun time when it is shared among neighbors and friends. Walk your dog. Take a walk with your children. These are all fun ways to get in extra steps in with a pedometer. It is recommended that you take 10,000 steps per day for optimal health. If you incorporate just the first two tips into your day, you’ll already have taken more than half of those recommended daily steps!
3.) Take the stairs! Stairs provide a fantastic workout. They increase cardiovascular fitness, and tone the legs and glutes. Stairs also help burn calories and use more muscles than just walking. Consider taking the stairs whenever you are able to instead of the elevator or escalator.
4.) When shopping at the mall or grocery store, walk around the store inside before you start and stop for shopping. You’ll give yourself a mini workout plus added steps. And, you might just make your shopping time more efficient!
Adding fitness into your day is easier than you think! Park a little farther out, take the stairs, initiate a walk with friends and neighbors, walk the dogs, invite your kids for a walk around the block – these are all ways to add fitness into your day. With a pedometer, you are able to track those steps and turn them into mileage. It is always exciting to see at the end of the day how far you walked without having to do a formal workout session. Turn your New Year into your fittest year ever by adding some of these tips into your daily routine.
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