Exercise Daily
Get up and move! America is in a pandemic of sitting too much. Think about how much you sit during the day. It's probably a whole lot.
Sitting for extended periods of time is both bad for your physical health as well as your mental health. We all need to move more. Being active is not as hard as you think; there are many simple ways to include physical activity into your daily routine.
Take a walk, perform calisthenics (squats, lunges, crunches, push ups, planks), stretch, weight train, play a team sport, run, swim, hike, dance, yoga, etc. The list goes on. Moving is great for your body and blood circulation, but also your mind. It helps reduce stress and promotes growth.
Task
Target an additional 10 minutes of intentional exercise daily. Health organizations recommend adults get a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week. Aerobic exercise is any activity that increases your heart rate and breathing.
30 minutes a day may sound like a lot, and if you don't intentionally get aerobic exercise daily, adding 30 minutes a day could lead to injury and soreness. So start slow with these guidelines:
1. If you are getting no exercise, strive to get 10 minutes a day. Take a brisk walk after dinner each night. Perform yard work. Do calisthenics: you can do this while watching TV; check out my simple routine in the links section below.
2. If you're already getting some exercise each week, aim to add on average 10 minutes a day (70 minutes across the week). Either add time to your exercises, try different activities to add variety, or increase the intensity of the activity.
3. If you exercise daily and get the recommended 30 minutes a day, try mixing it up with more intense activities. If you normally walk, go for a jog. If you normally jog, try adding intermittent sprints. Challenge yourself to increase your heart rate for short or extended periods of time.
The goal is to get you into an exercise routine that you will continue to perform week after week after week. Adding 10 minutes a day is a small enough amount of increased activity that should be easy to manage and add to your lifestyle. After you have added 10 minutes of activity to your daily routine, try adding more.