Sure, a fitness center's a great way to keep in the game. But you can supplement that game through fun, daily activities that can have a surprising effect, local experts say.
"In many ways we have engineered activity out of our daily lives and out of the lives of our kids," said Jo Anne Judge-Dietz, school coordinator for Steps to a Healthier Rochester with Olmsted County Public Health. "Thinking about how we got exercise a generation ago can help us build activity back into our daily lives, such as walking the dog, walking to the bus stop or mailbox, or walking to get a few items at the store."
Kids can easily get half their recommended 60 minutes of daily activity by biking or walking to and from school, for example. "Kids arrive at school awake and ready to learn, and parents avoid the traffic congestion around the school," Judge-Dietz said.
Check out some of these ideas from Judge-Dietz and the Chicago Tribune:
- Stand while listening to phone messages at work, or while checking e-mail. It burns three times as many calories as sitting.
- Walk the dog.
- Work your abdominal muscles during business meetings by tensing them and counting to 20, 30 or 60.
- Selectively tense muscles in your legs during business meetings.
- Have your kids join a "walking school bus," (adult volunteers escort neighborhood kids to and from school). Volunteer as an escort.
- Walk or bike to school or work.
- Use drop off/pick up points for kids who live too far away from school to walk the whole distance.
- While pushing a shopping cart, work your whole upper body -- biceps, triceps, deltoids, pectorals -- by tensing your arms in various ways.
- Hang from the monkey bars with your kids or grandkids (or find a tree) to release the kinks and tension. Run, jump, dodge, crawl and climb with them.
- Use gadgets like pedometers to have fun checking your movement.
- Do sets of Kegel exercises (contract and relax the muscles that form the pelvic floor).
- Use games like Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution to turn your TV into a workout station.
- Set TV "time rules" to keep kids (and adults) from spending too much time in front of the TV.
- Use activity for rewards (reward kids with a trip to the park or a bike ride that you join in).
- Give kids gifts that encourage activity and going outside (such as colorful rain boots, a kite or seeds to plant).
- Bend forward during your morning shower to release tight hamstrings, calves and hips, keeping your knees slightly bent. Forward bends can also help with fatigue, anxiety, headaches and insomnia.
- Before getting up from bed, pull your right knee up toward your chest to help warm up a stiff lower back. Switch legs and then pull both legs in. Hold each position 30 seconds. A bit of side rocking mobilizes the sacroiliac joint.
- Towel dry your hair in the morning -- and use a manual toothbrush.
- Use the printer farthest from your desk at work.
- Schedule "walking meetings" instead of sitting ones.
- Take stairs instead of elevators.
