i spent the weekend sitting in a car and/or hunched up freezing to death (side note: congrats to my friend for getting married... bonus side note: no one else is allowed to have an outdoor winter wedding), so movement was tough this weekend. and my body really felt the difference from my typical workouts and general life moving around. but there are still ways to get some sort of movement in, even with the 8 + hours in the car.
here are some easy ways you can add just a little bit of extra movement into your day without taking too much time or effort!
- S T R E T C H
- seriously. sit up in bed before you get up and touch your toes and reach up and get some twists in. take some deep breaths and honestly it'll start your day so much better. and the same thing goes for the evening. before you get in bed, or before you get too comfy, take just a couple of minutes to recover from the day and stretch out.
- drink hella water & get up regularly to refill your bottle.
- easy peasy and doing more than one good thing for yourself all at the same time! the more you drink, the more you pee, and the more you gotta stand up and go take a walk to the restroom and/or to refill your water bottle!
- stand up every hour or so
- sitting at a desk has been proven to be detrimental to your health. hopefully you're taking care of the long term sitting with the water tip above, but if not, just make sure you recognize how long you've been sitting and just stand up every so often, reach up, take a big breath, walk if you can for a moment, and get back into it.
- split your lunch break
- enjoy your food, and then take 10 or so minutes to take a walk. i almost always had 10-15 mins of my lunch break left over after eating when i worked in an office. instead of sitting and staring at your phone for that time... take a lap around the building a time or two!
- park a little farther away
- i know, i know this is an old one. but it is a really effective way to get some extra steps in with minimal effort. and those steps add up and will make you feel better in the long run!
- add in some calf raises
- probably the easiest exercise to add into your day. whenever your standing up, just add in a few calf raises and build some calf muscles any gym bro would be jealous of.
- get yourself a lacrosse or tennis ball and roll with them!
- roll out the bottom of your feet, your back and shoulders, and calves (they'll be sore from all those calf raises!). it releases tension and your muscles will thank you. you can do this sitting at your desk, watching TV, or whenever you have a minute!
there ya have it. all of these combined will take up less than a half hour. it doesn't take a lot to get moving just a little more and these are all ways to start making fitness an easy part of your life!
want a little more guidance on starting your fitness journey... check out the training packages you can get from me here and check out my instagram and facebook pages for free workout and recipe ideas every day of the week!