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How to improve your health by getting active even when you’re busy

June 10, 2021

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Being active is said to be good for your health. But what if you don’t have enough time to exercise daily? Can you squeeze short moments of activity into a busy life? Every exercise helps and carries some long-term health benefits.

Feel free to explore them in this article and discover a few methods that can help you create a realistic activity plan according to your lifestyle. 

The benefits of being more active

Among the perks of being physically active, you’ll recognize some well-known benefits. From reducing stress to increasing work productivity, by introducing exercise into your daily routine, you’ll be able to:

  • Reduce the risk of heart attack
  • Better manage your weight
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Boost immunity
  • Improve sleep patterns

These health benefits will also save you time and money by reducing potential medical costs in the long run.

How to fit activity into your life

Taking time to create your personalized physical health routine will go a long way when you decide to start exercising. Understandably, everyone has different activities during the day. So, here are some suggestions to become more active:

  • Combine physical activity with daily activities
  • Plan exercise sessions

Combine physical activity with daily activities

Daily activities such as shopping, doing household tasks, or walking your dog can always be combined with physical exercises, like: 

  • Riding a bike instead of driving the car when you run errands
  • Parking at the far end of the car park when going shopping
  • Strengthening arms by lifting a grocery item a few times
  • Getting off the bus earlier than usual and walking 
  • Regularly stretching your legs, arms, and body at your desk
  • Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Balancing or doing leg raises while talking on the phone
  • Trying a few squats when brushing your teeth

Plan your time for exercise sessions 

If you like the idea of exercising in a session more than multitasking and combining physical activity with daily tasks, consider the following tips that will help you organize your time better:

  • Ensure that you schedule exercise sessions in your calendar, so you can plan the rest of your activities around them
  • Find an exercise buddy and commit to a few sessions together
  • Try exercising before you get busy, especially if you are used to getting up early in the morning
  • Choose exercises that you enjoy and create a special exercise space at home

4 types of exercises that boost health

Studies have shown that it’s vital to get more than one type of exercise and combine endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility, as each has different benefits for your health. Moreover, variety will reduce the risk of injury.

Endurance—or aerobic exercise, speeds up your heart rate and breathing. This type of exercise is crucial for many body functions. By performing endurance exercises, you will keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy. Aerobic exercise also helps lower blood pressure, burn fat, and reduce inflammation. In the long term, endurance exercises also lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and many other afflictions.

Some endurance activities you can do include swimming, dancing, playing tennis, biking, or jogging.

Strength—or resistance training, builds muscles, improving your ability to carry out daily tasks, by developing strong muscles and bones. This type of exercise can also stimulate bone growth, improve posture, lower blood sugar, and reduce pain in the joints. You can consult a therapist to create a personalized strength training program, or include squats, push-ups, and lunges into your workout. If you want to combine strength exercises with daily activities, consider carrying groceries, for example.

Balance—is important for preventing falls. As we age, our vision and inner ear, which contribute to our balance, tend to deteriorate. But it’s never too late to start doing balance exercises, so you can feel steadier.

One example exercise is standing on one foot or heel-to-toe walking (by placing one foot directly in front of the other foot). Consult your physical therapist to find out what area you need to work more on to improve your balance and receive proper training.

Flexibility—or stretching, is essential to improve muscle elasticity and performance. Stretching your muscles daily will increase your range of motion and reduce the risk of injury and pain. To do this type of exercise every day, you will need to pay attention to warming up your muscles first by doing repetitive motion exercises, which send blood and oxygen up to your muscles.

If you’re at work and can’t leave your desk, you can try static stretches (stretches that you hold in place for a period of time, without movement) for various parts of the body, including the shoulders, neck, legs, and lower back.