The Magic of Incidental Exercise
How much exercise do you need to stay healthy?
According to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), you should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week.
Moderate-intensity activity covers things like brisk walking, dancing and hiking whilst vigorous-intensity activity refers to running, sports or gymnastics.
According to YouGov, just one in twelve UK residents exercises for 30 mins a day and that on average a quarter of Britons (27%) aren’t completing a single 30-minute exercise session a week.
Clearly, many of us aren’t doing as much as we should.
With all of us leading busy lives, it can be difficult to find the time to dedicate yourself to regular periods of physical activity.
‘Life’ seems all too good at just getting in the way.
It gets worse.
According to recent scientific research, sitting is the new smoking.
The evidence shows that one of the worst things you can do for your health is to sit around and do nothing.
Unfortunately, modern life is geared to sitting.
We sit in cars, on buses, and at our desks.
Far too much of our time is spent inactive.
This is reflected in rising global obesity rates. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of obese people in the world has nearly tripled since 1975.
Thanks to technology, we don’t even need to move from our own homes. Food, groceries and transport can all be ordered to our front door and an increasing number of jobs can be done remotely.
So what can you do?
Ideally, you should make your health a priority and carve out the necessary recommended time to exercise weekly.
However, if this isn’t possible, try to find as many ways as possible to introduce some ‘incidental’ exercise into your routine.
This type of exercise refers to any activity built up in small chunks over the course of your day.
Here are some suggestions:
When you’ve been sitting or lying down for more than 20mins get up and walkabout.
Take the stairs rather than the lift or escalator.
Walk instead of taking the bus.
Pack your bags with extra weight.
Do a set of pushups, sit-ups and planks in-between Zoom meetings.
Do your food shopping in-store as opposed to online.
When you drive somewhere, park further from the entrance than you’d normally do so to enable to walk the rest.
Clean up around the house.
Think of how you might apply this thinking throughout your day. Remember that every task is an opportunity to fit in some more physical activity.
