Stepping It Up Throughout the Day
Office Time:
- Walk to deliver messages instead of e-mailing coworkers.
- Use a timer at your desk and set it for 45 minutes. When the buzzer goes off, take a brief walking break around the building or up and down the stairs a few times.
- Have walking meetings with coworkers.
- Use some of your lunch break time to take a walk.
Television Time:
- Try to move during the commercial breaks (do sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, or jumping jacks). During a half-hour TV show there are about 10 minutes of commercials. An hour-long show has 20 minutes of commercials.
- Replace a half-hour of watching TV with a half-hour of walking instead!
- Change the channel manually rather than using the remote.
Car Time:
- Replace one car trip with walking or biking each day. Most car trips are less than one mile anyway so you can walk about 2,000 steps instead of driving.
- Park your car farther away from where you are going. Don’t drive around looking for the closest parking spot to the entrance; park in the farthest spot and walk.
- Don’t use drive-through windows. Park your car and walk into the restaurant, bank, post-office, pharmacy, etc. This usually saves you time anyway!
Social Time:
- Walking and talking is a great way to catch up with friends while getting some exercise. Most people can easily carry on a conversation while walking and get some physical activity at the same time.
- -nstead of going to dinner and a movie, go window shopping or walk around a museum instead.
School Time:
- Take the long way to and from your classes.
- If you have a break between classes, skip the coffee break and go for a walk instead. You’ll feel better and have more energy and mental awareness for your next class.
- Ask your professor if you can have a walking meeting with them.
- If you’ve got a long day of studying ahead, set a timer for 45 minutes. Once the buzzer goes off get up and go for a 5- to 10-minute walk and then get back to work.
Home Time:
- Clean the house; sweep, mop, vacuum etc.
- Take the dog for a walk, offer to take a friend’s dog for a walk, or accompany a dog-walker on their walk.
Exercise Time:
- Try to increase your exercise time by 10 minutes.
- Add a 5-minute warm up walk and a 5-minute cool down walk to your exercise routine. This will help your muscles relax after an intense work out.
- If you can’t add time to your work out, try to increase your intensity. Run a little harder or walk a little faster than usual. Get your heart rate up a bit higher than normal.
