How to Make Fitness a Daily Routine

Increasingly large numbers of Americans and people throughout the world are overweight and have trouble losing weight. When most of your time is spent at work or sitting at a desk, it's hard to find time to get the necessary daily activity, but a few tips for how to fit exercise into your already established routine can make it easier to be active.

Instructions

1. Set aside half an hour in the morning or evening a few days a week for recreational fitness such as walking or biking that can be done with family or friends.

2. Park in the back of the parking lot whenever you go to work or run errands. A lot of parking lot walking adds up over the course of a day.

3. Take the stairs instead of the elevator (especially when going up).

4. Play with kids. A game of tag or catch is a fun way to spend quality family time as well as get some fresh air.

5. Walk during lunch break and take a buddy with you for a little bit of social stimulation.

6. Do active work around the house such as vacuuming, mowing the grass, raking leaves, taking out the trash or walking the dog.

7. Do stationary weightbearing exercise while watching TV or sitting at the desk. Leg lifts, arm circles, bicep curls with light weights, and just flexing the muscles of the abdomen for extended periods of time are all good stationary activities.

8. Commit to a strict routine if you're having a hard time simply adding activity. Make yourself a schedule with specific exercises to do at certain workout times if you respond best to specific goals, and post this schedule on the fridge.

Tips & Warnings

• Focus on slipping activity into routines that already exist rather than trying to create a completely new routine. If you're too busy for an aerobics class or other scheduled fitness activity, you'll probably also have a hard time fitting in an hour of specifically scheduled exercise time everyday. Don't set your time commitment too high and get disappointed when you can't meet the goals you have set.