Does adopting a consistent exercise habit feel daunting to you? Does it resonate as more of a New Year’s resolution rather than a regular injection of joy throughout the year you can count on? Have no fear, Create Joy Travel is here! The following blog will help you see just how easy and fun movement can anytime of year, over a range of locations and activities. At home, at work, or while traveling with your crew, you can incorporate simple daily movement in creative ways that will enhance your current and daily routines.
Why Exercise Anyway?
Here are 5 really good reasons for exercise:
- Boosts your mood
- Relieves stress
- Helps you sleep
- Supports memory and thinking skills
- Gets you out of your own head
Depending on your daily goals, a combination of the above will not only enhance your day and your outlook, it will improve your relationship with exercise!
Where To Start
Let’s address a timeframe first. While best practice is 30 minutes of activity at least 5 times a week, physical activity can come in many forms and you can also start small and build up your endurance over time. Please do not think you must spend an hour in the gym every single day of the week doing a crazy amount of hard cardio to see benefits. While a mixture of cardio and strength training both have their perks, they can be easy to get in even if you aren’t a gym rat.
Maximizing Your Movement with NEAT: Everyday Activities that Boost Your Health
Let’s talk about Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or NEAT. This is movement and activity throughout your day that is not specifically planned as exercise, such as gardening, walking farther from your car into the store, cleaning your house, or chasing after the kids or pets!
Sounds too good to be true, right? But the next time you cook dinner, think about how you’re moving around the kitchen, or running down the hall to grab more paper towels for that spill that just happened. It all counts! All of this NEAT “exercise” burns calories, can boost fat loss, and stabilize blood sugar levels. Which, in turn, can help with things like sustaining your energy throughout the day and getting a better night’s sleep. Wow!
Keep in mind that if you’re averaging about 8 hours of sleep a night, then 30 minutes of exercise is 2% of your day. So NEAT is the rest of your day and that’s a big amount! So what easy and fun activities can you continue doing or easily add to beef up your movement throughout the day?
Something I personally love to do and recommend to clients frequently is while you are waiting for your coffee to brew, start your day with a few squats in the kitchen. You’re going to drink that coffee anyway, right? Easy! Or, if you are getting ready for your day while waiting for the coffee, maybe go up and down the hall or up and down the stairs a few extra times.
Exercise On-the-Go
Exercise can also be easily incorporated while traveling, and is especially helpful in breaking up those longer trips where you are sitting or waiting for longer periods of time. Whether it’s stopping for a quick pushup sesh at the next rest stop, or using a resistance band while waiting to hop the next train, these activities require minimal or no equipment and will likely not disrupt your travel plans.
While you wait for your flight or mode of transportation, get those extra steps by exploring the area or while navigating the crowd. You could even find a not-so-busy spot for simple wall squats or wall push-ups if you feel so inclined. Starting the morning with a little more movement can absolutely set a positive tone for the rest of the day; the same goes for your travel itinerary!
If you’ve already got NEAT down and are interested in ramping up your movement routine or setting exercise goals, let’s talk about walking. To list off a few health benefits, walking may help with the following:
- Prevents weight gain
- Promotes fat loss
- Improves your mood
- Releases more of those endorphins
- Promotes healthier cholesterol levels,
- Improves immune health
- Connects you to natural environments
Again, you can aim for 30 minutes up to 5 times a week, but if that feels like a lot, start with 10-15 minutes a couple of times a week until you build the habit. Work your way up from there.
It also helps to have a buddy you can call. Time passes quickly when you talk with a friend 😁
Strength Training for Beginners
Finally…strength training. As we age, strengthening our muscles, joints, and ligaments becomes increasingly important. By working together, these elements protect our bones, improve balance and flexibility, and increase bone density. This practice supports your ability to perform everyday tasks like getting up off the floor or climbing out of a car. Like other forms of movement, strength training also enhances mental well-being, boosts metabolism, improves sleep quality, increases mobility, promotes fat loss, reduces stress, and sharpens brain function.
What could strength training look like for you? No need to fear if you don’t have weights at home, or if you’re traveling and don’t have access to equipment; bodyweight does wonderful work, too! You can do tricep dips off of a chair or push ups standing upright off of the wall; you can squat right in your kitchen like I talked about before, and do arm circles to feel the burn in the upper body.
While traveling, consider planning some hikes or finding a sightseeing monument to climb– think Eiffel Tour, Empire State building, the Great Wall of China! You can build those muscles by exploring trails and climbing steps!
The Best Kind of Exercise is the Kind You Will Do
Let’s reiterate once again that exercise doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can easily add in any of these activities during the work day by walking down the hall to a printer farther away, or parking in the further lot from the store (versus the closest spot). You can wall sit in your bedroom before getting dressed for the day, or during your lunch break. Sneak it in when you can and where it makes sense for the routine you already have going. And do it in a fun way that doesn’t feel like “one more thing” on your to-do list.
Whether you are just now considering your NEAT game or ready to get out of your comfort zone and set new movement goals, Create Joy Travel is here to support you every step or squat of the way!
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