Don't have time to exercise? Don't worry. Here are 10 research-backed ways to sneak enough physical activity into your day to burn calories, strengthen your heart, and improve your overall health without having to go to the gym.
By Heather Marie Graham, Everyday health
Find it a real struggle to get to the gym? Worried that not working out is having a negative impact on your body and mind? Relax. The amount of exercise you need for good health is probably less than you think.
According to the latest government guidelines, published in November 2018 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adults should be getting a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week — and any physical activity you squeeze into your day counts toward that goal, even if only for a few minutes.
Surprised that such short bits of exercise can have a significant impact on your health? Recent research bears it out. A study published in August 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) found that running a little as five minutes a day delivers a wide range of benefits, including significantly reducing your risk of dying early. And the more brief bits of activity you fit in (many everyday activities count), the greater the life-extending benefits will be, according to research published in March 2018 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Rather than the traditional way of saying, ‘To get fit you need to go to the gym and do a moderate-intensity workout for 150 minutes a week,’ there’s now a lot of research showing how important and beneficial it is to move throughout the day,” says Karen Reznik Dolins, RD, EdD, an adjunct associate professor of sports nutrition at Columbia University’s Teachers College and New York University in New York City. “Someone who is doing a vigorous workout for an hour every day but sitting or sleeping for the other 23 hours is not necessarily achieving a good level of fitness.”
In fact, the government’s updated physical activity guidelines include a new warning about the risks associated with sitting too much throughout the day. Although there’s not enough evidence yet to determine precisely how much sitting is too much, the guidelines do note that even if you meet the physical activity requirements, high amounts of sedentary behavior can still increase your risk of health problems.
Here are some activities that’ll keep you moving throughout the day, no gym required. Bonus: In addition to helping you become more physically fit, each does a great job of burning calories, according to Harvard Health.
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Find it a real struggle to get to the gym? Worried that not working out is having a negative impact on your body and mind? Relax. The amount of exercise you need for good health is probably less than you think.
According to the latest government guidelines, published in November 2018 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adults should be getting a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week — and any physical activity you squeeze into your day counts toward that goal, even if only for a few minutes.
Surprised that such short bits of exercise can have a significant impact on your health? Recent research bears it out. A study published in August 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) found that running a little as five minutes a day delivers a wide range of benefits, including significantly reducing your risk of dying early. And the more brief bits of activity you fit in (many everyday activities count), the greater the life-extending benefits will be, according to research published in March 2018 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Rather than the traditional way of saying, ‘To get fit you need to go to the gym and do a moderate-intensity workout for 150 minutes a week,’ there’s now a lot of research showing how important and beneficial it is to move throughout the day,” says Karen Reznik Dolins, RD, EdD, an adjunct associate professor of sports nutrition at Columbia University’s Teachers College and New York University in New York City. “Someone who is doing a vigorous workout for an hour every day but sitting or sleeping for the other 23 hours is not necessarily achieving a good level of fitness.”
In fact, the government’s updated physical activity guidelines include a new warning about the risks associated with sitting too much throughout the day. Although there’s not enough evidence yet to determine precisely how much sitting is too much, the guidelines do note that even if you meet the physical activity requirements, high amounts of sedentary behavior can still increase your risk of health problems.
Here are some activities that’ll keep you moving throughout the day, no gym required. Bonus: In addition to helping you become more physically fit, each does a great job of burning calories, according to Harvard Health.
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Walk to Help Keep Your Heart Strong and Your Life Long
No-equipment-needed walking is so easy and so beneficial, it may be the most underrated form of exercise. Just two of its many impressive benefits are:
A Healthier Heart Simply spreading 21 minutes of walking throughout each day can lower your risk of heart failure by 30 percent, according to a study published in September 2018 in the journal JACC: Heart Failure. An earlier National Walker's Health study, published in May 2013 in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, linked regular walking to a 7 percent lower risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
A Longer Life Walking 10,000 steps per day lowered a healthy person’s risk of early death from all causes by 46 percent, according to a 10-year study published in November 2015 in the journal PLoS One.
What’s more, walking has one of the lowest injury rates of any form of exercise, according to the 2018 Physical Activities Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Tip: You can make counting those steps extra easy by using an app or a fitness tracker.
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A Healthier Heart Simply spreading 21 minutes of walking throughout each day can lower your risk of heart failure by 30 percent, according to a study published in September 2018 in the journal JACC: Heart Failure. An earlier National Walker's Health study, published in May 2013 in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, linked regular walking to a 7 percent lower risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
A Longer Life Walking 10,000 steps per day lowered a healthy person’s risk of early death from all causes by 46 percent, according to a 10-year study published in November 2015 in the journal PLoS One.
What’s more, walking has one of the lowest injury rates of any form of exercise, according to the 2018 Physical Activities Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Tip: You can make counting those steps extra easy by using an app or a fitness tracker.
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Garden to Burn Calories and Benefit Your Brain
Making your garden beautiful by digging, weeding, raking, mowing, and sowing seeds can burn 100 calories in 15 minutes.
Gardening also has other benefits. A 44-year study published in March 2019 in the journal Neurology linked gardening as little as four hours a week to as much as a 56 percent lower risk of dementia. It’s an excellent stress buster, which may confer a mental-health benefit. In a small Dutch study, folks were given a stressful task then asked to either read indoors or garden outdoors for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the gardening group had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the reading group, and they reported feeling significantly more upbeat.
Tip: Be sure to wear sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher to lower your risk for sunburn and skin cancer.
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Gardening also has other benefits. A 44-year study published in March 2019 in the journal Neurology linked gardening as little as four hours a week to as much as a 56 percent lower risk of dementia. It’s an excellent stress buster, which may confer a mental-health benefit. In a small Dutch study, folks were given a stressful task then asked to either read indoors or garden outdoors for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the gardening group had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the reading group, and they reported feeling significantly more upbeat.
Tip: Be sure to wear sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher to lower your risk for sunburn and skin cancer.
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Shine Up Your Car to Fit in Some Cardio
Washing and waxing your car vigorously for 15 minutes is one of many activities that will burn about 80 calories and get your heart rate up. Stretching and raising your calves to scrub the roof of the car and squatting to wash the tires can make this a real workout.
How much benefit does it actually bring? A study published in March 2019 in The American Journal of Epidemiology looked at 7,999 adults and found that replacing 30 minutes of time you’d normally spend sitting with 30 minutes of light exercise reduced the risk of early death 17 percent.
Tip: Move your sponge across the car lengthwise to fit in some lunges as you go. Not only is this a better workout than moving the sponge in circles, it’s also better for your car because it avoids creating light but noticeable scratches in the paint called swirl marks.
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How much benefit does it actually bring? A study published in March 2019 in The American Journal of Epidemiology looked at 7,999 adults and found that replacing 30 minutes of time you’d normally spend sitting with 30 minutes of light exercise reduced the risk of early death 17 percent.
Tip: Move your sponge across the car lengthwise to fit in some lunges as you go. Not only is this a better workout than moving the sponge in circles, it’s also better for your car because it avoids creating light but noticeable scratches in the paint called swirl marks.
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Push a Stroller: It Helps New Parents Shape Up
Taking your little one out for a walk allows for some bonding time and is a great way to get into shape. Pushing a stroller for 30 minutes burns about 130 calories, which can help new moms and dads stay healthy and active.
Tip: To maximize the benefits, try going uphill.
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Tip: To maximize the benefits, try going uphill.
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Hit the Bowling Alley to Strengthen Your Core
If you think of bowling as a lazy person’s game, think again. Turns out, bowling is a weight-bearing, bone-building activity that burns about 225 calories an hour, according to Harvard Health. As professional bowler and bowling coach Shannon O’Keefe, the 2018 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Player of the Year, explains, the average woman’s bowling ball weighs between 10 to 14 pounds, and the average man’s ball is 14 to 16 pounds.
“Lifting and swinging that ball over and over uses an immense amount of core strength that also gives muscles in your arms and shoulders a workout,” she says. “You’re basically doing a lunge as a weighted object is falling behind you, which is certainly a form of strength training. Bowling involves enough walking, too, that while your heart rate isn’t going to be as high as running or sprinting, it will be elevated.”
Tip: Use both hands to pick up your bowling ball. Lifting the ball by inserting your fingers into the holes places too much strain on your wrist and fingers.
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“Lifting and swinging that ball over and over uses an immense amount of core strength that also gives muscles in your arms and shoulders a workout,” she says. “You’re basically doing a lunge as a weighted object is falling behind you, which is certainly a form of strength training. Bowling involves enough walking, too, that while your heart rate isn’t going to be as high as running or sprinting, it will be elevated.”
Tip: Use both hands to pick up your bowling ball. Lifting the ball by inserting your fingers into the holes places too much strain on your wrist and fingers.
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Listen to the Beat to Get You Off Your Feet
If you’re looking to release stress, lift your mood, improve your memory, and get a whole-body workout, crank up some fast tunes and dance like nobody’s watching. Minute for minute, all that energetic twisting and swirling is an aerobic exercise that burns at least 200 calories in 30 minutes.
Not into dancing? Play the drums. It doesn't require any skill yet it, too, is a cardio workout that burns about 100 calories in 30 minutes. This may explain why exercise classes focused on drumming, like Pound and DrumFIT, are popping in more and more gyms and YMCAS nationwide.
Tip: No drums? No problem. Simply place a fitness ball in a laundry basket and let loose with a pair of drumsticks.
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Not into dancing? Play the drums. It doesn't require any skill yet it, too, is a cardio workout that burns about 100 calories in 30 minutes. This may explain why exercise classes focused on drumming, like Pound and DrumFIT, are popping in more and more gyms and YMCAS nationwide.
Tip: No drums? No problem. Simply place a fitness ball in a laundry basket and let loose with a pair of drumsticks.
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Splash in a Pool to Stay Strong and Flexible
Dive in for a low-impact exercise that can relieve stress, improve posture, and tone your upper body. Swimming laps burns about 223 calories in 30 minutes while also building endurance, strengthening your muscles, and lowering the risk of early death by 28 percent, according to research published in The Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Swimming, a report commissioned in 2017 by Swim England. It also strengthens your heart and lungs and increases your flexibility. Plus, swimming puts minimal stress on bones and joints, making it the perfect exercise if you have an injury that prevents you from doing other activities.
Even easier: Running in place or doing simple exercises like jumping jacks in the pool delivers cardiovascular benefits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Water-based exercises also brighten mood in both men and women, help keep bones strong in post-menopausal women, and reduce pain and stave off disability in people with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Tip: If you’re swimming laps, consider wearing fins, which make your kicks more effective.
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Even easier: Running in place or doing simple exercises like jumping jacks in the pool delivers cardiovascular benefits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Water-based exercises also brighten mood in both men and women, help keep bones strong in post-menopausal women, and reduce pain and stave off disability in people with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Tip: If you’re swimming laps, consider wearing fins, which make your kicks more effective.
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Shovel Snow to Melt Calories
If you live in a snowy region, winter is a great time to squeeze in some exercise — you need to shovel snow for only 15 minutes to melt more than 100 calories.
Tip: Before grabbing a shovel, though, remember to follow these guidelines to prevent injury from this wintertime workout:
Tip: Before grabbing a shovel, though, remember to follow these guidelines to prevent injury from this wintertime workout:
- Lift with your knees, not with your back.
- Slow down if you start to sweat.
- Stay hydrated.
- Take frequent breaks.
- Lift smaller loads and avoid holding your breath while lifting.
- Stop if you feel pain.
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Channel Your Inner Child: Jump Rope and Hula-Hoop
You may not have touched a jump rope or Hula-Hoop since you were 10, but both childhood toys are bona fide pieces of exercise equipment that can get your heart racing and help tone your body from head to toe.
Jump Rope You won’t only have fun skipping rope, you’ll also torch as many as 200 calories in 15 minutes while getting one of the most effective cardio workouts around. That’s according to a landmark six-week study published in the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, which found that folks who jumped rope for 10 minutes a day experienced the same improvement to their cardiovascular health as folks who jogged for 30 minutes a day.
Tip: One upgrade from childhood to consider is to use a weighted jump rope, which will engage more of your muscles.
Hula-Hoop Hooping delivers a total body workout that improves flexibility and balance while also strengthening your back, abdominal, arm, and leg muscles — and burning more than 100 calories in 15 minutes, according to a study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Tip: Like jumping rope, the benefits increase if you use a weighted hoop rather than a flimsier one from the toy store.
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Jump Rope You won’t only have fun skipping rope, you’ll also torch as many as 200 calories in 15 minutes while getting one of the most effective cardio workouts around. That’s according to a landmark six-week study published in the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, which found that folks who jumped rope for 10 minutes a day experienced the same improvement to their cardiovascular health as folks who jogged for 30 minutes a day.
Tip: One upgrade from childhood to consider is to use a weighted jump rope, which will engage more of your muscles.
Hula-Hoop Hooping delivers a total body workout that improves flexibility and balance while also strengthening your back, abdominal, arm, and leg muscles — and burning more than 100 calories in 15 minutes, according to a study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Tip: Like jumping rope, the benefits increase if you use a weighted hoop rather than a flimsier one from the toy store.
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Turn Any Set of Stairs Into a Fitness Machine
Too busy to hit the StairMaster? That's okay — if you set aside just 15 minutes of your day to go up and down any set of steps, you can blast more than 100 calories. Taking the stairs is also good for balance and coordination. Not to mention, it’s free.
Even more impressive, a six-week study published online January 16, 2019, in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that climbing just three flights of stairs vigorously, three times a day, improved cardiorespiratory fitness, an important marker of heart health, in people who were otherwise sedentary.
Tip: As you build stamina and confidence, you can increase the benefit by taking two stairs at a time.
Even more impressive, a six-week study published online January 16, 2019, in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that climbing just three flights of stairs vigorously, three times a day, improved cardiorespiratory fitness, an important marker of heart health, in people who were otherwise sedentary.
Tip: As you build stamina and confidence, you can increase the benefit by taking two stairs at a time.
See more at: Everyday health
