‘Accidentally’ exercising - Beyond Fitness, Health & Wellness

Take stairs instead of escalators.

You don’t need to specifically dedicate and sacrifice time each day to visit the gym or go out for a walk. Personal Trainer Ben Sortino explains how you can incorporate a range of exercises into your day so you’ll be ‘accidentally’ exercising.

Sleep, shower, commute, work, commute, cook, sleep…repeat. Where is there ever time for exercise?

The Australian National Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that we do at least 30 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity for at least five days per week. So let’s break this down shall we?

30 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity for at least 5 days per week

= 30 x 5

= 150 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity per week

So 2.5 hours of exercise a week doesn’t sounds like much, does it?

But let’s address the big problem: when is there ever time for exercise?

Well, every waking minute of your day actually!

You don’t need to specifically dedicate and sacrifice time each day to visit the gym or go out for a walk.

Instead you can incorporate a range of exercises into your day. This is known as incidental exercise, or ‘accidentally’ exercising.

You’ll actually be surprised by just how much you ‘accidentally’ exercise throughout each day! Here are a few ways you can ‘accidentally’ exercise throughout your day:

Ways to ‘accidentally’ exercise

Home

Place your bag/keys/phone at the top of the stairs – this will force you to climb up and down the stairs to get them.
Mow the lawn or tend to the garden.
Place the remote control on top of the TV – force yourself to get up every time you want to change the channel.
Place and use exercise equipment in front of the TV when watching it.

Work

Take the stairs instead of using the escalator or the lift.
Spend your lunch break being active: go for a 10min walk. You’ve probably been sitting at your desk all day so a quick walk will do you wonders.
Cycle to work, or get off the bus/tram/train one or two stops before your intended stop.
Get up out of your chair every 30 minutes and move around.

Shops

Take the stairs instead the escalator or lift.
Walk a couple of extra laps around the shopping centre/supermarket.
Park your car further away from the entrance of the shopping centre/supermarket.
Squat when looking for items at a lower level.

Are there any other ways that you ‘accidentally’ exercise throughout your day? Let us know.

Happy ‘Accidently’ Exercising! 🙂

Benjamin Sortino – Beyond Fitness Personal Trainer