Aug
13
Living A More Active Life - Part 1, Start At The Office
Filed Under Healthy Habits, Work | 2 Comments
On Monday I wrote that the two basic truths of fitness are eat in moderation and be more physically active. I believe that wholeheartedly and it was the realization of these truths that helped me get to where I am today. In the past, I’ve gone over my rules for eating, now I’d like to share with you some ideas for being more physically active.
Physical Activity and Exercise Are NOT the Same Thing
I’ve talked about this before, but physical activity is not a replacement for a workout. A workout challenges you, physical activity just means you’re not sitting on your butt doing nothing. So just because you’re going to be active, doesn’t mean you can stop working out. That said, where do we start adding activity into our lives?
The Office
Why the office? Easy. Because it’s where a lot of us spend a lot of our time. For example, I spend a good 10 hours a day in the office, 5 days a week. That’s 50 hours, or about 45% of my waking time. However, how am I going to add to a work day when I already have too much to do? Well, there are a number of ways.
- Stop emailing / calling and start walking - Got a question for a coworker? Don’t call or email them, just walk over and talk to them. I once calculated that I walk more than a mile a day just within the office. Best part of all, this actually makes me more productive. First of all, it stops me from shooting off useless emails and calls. Second, I find that face to face conversations tend to resolve issues a lot quicker.
- Use the stairs - Do you work in a multi floor office? Yes? Then stop using the elevator and start using the stairs. Unless you work in some sky scraper, you’ll actually save time by not waiting for the elevator and you’ll get a decent workout in the process.
- Take a walk meeting - Got a 1 on 1? How about taking it outside and walking around the building? I had a boss who used to do this and it was great. Not only did it eliminate other distractions and let us have our meetings in peace, it also felt much better than sitting in some office reporting on goals and objectives.
- Park further - Stop looking for that ideal parking spot and take the spot a bit further. Your car will get dinged less and you’ll end up walking more. Speaking of which…
- Use a bike or walk for your commute - Most people write off this idea as taking too much time but it’s easier than you think. Take a look at this old post where I compare my drive and bike commutes. The bike commute ends up taking 10 minutes longer but I spend less money overall, I’m active and I get to spend 30 minutes on the train (working) rather than 30 minutes in traffic (being annoyed).
- 5 minute stretch - Need a break? How about instead of heading to the water cooler you stand up and do some stretches in your cube? A series of 10 lunges, 10 squats, 10 arm raises and 10 toe touches done really slowly and with no weight are an amazing stretch routine. You’ll feel better and be more productive afterwards.
Work More Efficiently
Note that none of these ideas take time away from the workday. In fact, many of these ideas will make you more efficient overall. That’s right, being more physically active doesn’t have to cost you time. In many ways, it can save you time.
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Stop treating the office as a place to spend 9 hours sitting down. You spend way too much time there to be sedentary.
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Aug
18
Last Wednesday I started talking about how people can add more physical activity into their lives. I started out with the office because that’s a good example of a large chunk of your life that is spent sitting down. However, I want to move on to the home now, and how we can be more active while at home. By the way, in response to an email I got over the weekend, yes I do apply all of these tips to my own life. I don’t just preach things on this site and then ignore them, all of these items are things I do myself.
The Home
You get home from a long day at work and all you want to do is sit down. Really? Are you sure about that? No offense, but most people spend their entire workday sitting down so why the heck are you so tired at home? Now that doesn’t apply to everyone, there are quite a few of you who are very physically active at work, but if you’re an office worker like myself, there’s no reason to need to “rest” after a long day at the office. In fact, there’s still a lot you need to accomplish. You need to take care of the yard, clean the house, go shopping, cook food and a whole host of other activities. Those activities are actually the key to being active while at home.
Gardening
Got a lawn? Do you mow it yourself or pay a gardener? If you pay a gardener, why? If you do it yourself, do you ride one of those silly ride on lawnmowers? What you’re telling me is that you paid a lot of money for a machine that eats a ton of gas so that you can be lazy and inactive. Why? Does this make sense? You’re throwing away money so that you can be unhealthy. Sounds crazy to me.
Gardening can be incredibly physically active. Mowing, planting, sheering, pruning, weeding are all physical activities. Yet people choose to hire a gardener or use power tools. These are typically the same people who complain about not having enough time to be active. Get rid of those power tools and go back to good old fashioned muscle power. You’ll be active, you’ll save money and your yard will look great.
Cleaning
Our new house doesn’t have a dishwasher. It’s a new experience for me having lived with a dishwasher my entire adult life. Now I spend a few minutes each day washing the dishes. End result? We save money on electricity, we save water and I get a bit of extra activity. Is it strenuous exercise? Of course not, but it’s physically active and that’s all we’re after here.
Errands
I’ve talked about this before. I try to run every errand I can on the bike or by walking. This includes shopping, dropping off the mail, visiting my mom, going to a friend’s house and so on. Taking the bike costs me an extra minute or two here and there, but it’s great physical activity and it saves me money. As a little bonus, the bike also prevents me from buying too much when I go shopping since I know I have limited space.
Do You Notice A Trend?
Look at all of these items I have listed above. They’re common, every day things. Most people clean, wash dishes, run errands or take care of yards. These aren’t unusual activities. The key is making them physical activities. All I’ve done for that is do them myself and do them without the help of electricity or gasoline. I’ve taken my every day tasks and converted them to use muscle power. That’s it. That’s all it takes to be physically active at home. As a bonus to being healthy, you also get to save money and who can argue with that?
There’s A Limit
Of course, there’s always a limit. There are some things I can do and some things I cannot. For example, I could start washing all my clothes by hand but I don’t. I could also start churning my own butter and raising chickens in the back yard but I don’t do that either. Everyone has a line which they cannot cross because they’re missing the skills, the time or both. That’s fine, I’m not advocating a return to the days before electricity. However, it seems to me that many people willingly stop far before they even approach this line.
Take a look at your life. Take a look at the activities you do at home. Is there a way in which you could reasonably convert them into physical activities? That hedge that needs trimming every two weeks, do you really need the electric trimmer or could you do this yourself? Can you walk to the corner and drop off the mail or do you really need to get in the car for that? These questions are part of a process that converts a sedantary home life into an active one.
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Being active at home doesn’t mean working out, it means doing the same things you do every day but using your body to do them. Once you start, you’ll see how easy it is.
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Aug
20
In the past couple of weeks, we talked about ways to be more active at work and ways to turn your housework into physical activity, but there’s one more place where sitting around could be turned into something more productive, and that’s your spare time. That’s right, we’re about to take that over too 
Whoa There!
First of all, let’s not go overboard. Everyone needs a bit of time to relax and I’m not suggesting that you start scheduling your spare time in the perfect increments for physical activity, not at all. Time spent on relaxation is time well spent since stress is one of the most destructive forces at work in our bodies. So if you occasionally want to loaf around doing nothing in particular, that’s not a bad thing.
What I am talking about is people like, well, the way I used to be. I would come home from the office and spend every minute of every hour either watching TV or playing on the computer. That right there is not healthy and those are the kind of habits we need to change.
So what can we do instead of watcing TV and playing video games? What sort of fun activities are available to us that aren’t as challenging as a workout but are still good ways to get off our butts? Well, there are quite a few possibilities.
All The Possible Ways In Which Moving Our Butts Of The Sofa Can Be Fun
Minigolf - Ever tried it? It’s a blast! Great fun with friends and family and relatively cheap. Is it a workout? Absolutely not, but we’re just looking for physical activity here, not all out workouts.
Go To The Park - This is not hiking. This is just going to the park and relaxing a bit. What’s different here than at home? Well, at the park you end up moving more. You play Frisbee or toss the ball for the dog. You actually end up moving around quite a bit at the park, especially when compared to an afternoon at home watching the TV.
Take A Walk - My wife and I do this occasionally when we just want to hang out together. Sure, we could sit on the couch and talk but why? It’s so much more fun to walk around our neighborhood, meet and greet neighbors and walk Daisy (our dog).
Play Pool - Yep, you heard me right, go play pool. Sure, if your idea of playing pool consists of drinking a lot of beer and eating chicken wings, that’s bad, but walking around the pool table, lining up shots and hanging out with friends is way more active than sitting at home surfing the internet.
Even Better, Go To The Pool - No, don’t do laps, this isn’t a workout. Just splash around and enjoy yourself. A pool is a great place to have fun and be physically active.
Ballroom Dancing - Anyone can do ballroom dancing. It’s relatively slow paced and not that complicated once you get the hang of it. Most community centers offer free classes so why not take advantage of them and do something a bit more fun than watching the latest episode of Dancing With The Stars?
None of these things is very challenging. I didn’t include anything like going to play soccer or hiking. These are just fun activities that involve a little more moving than sitting at home and watching TV. Most of them are relatively cheap and some are absolutely free. You can do most of them alone or you can add some friends for more fun.
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Physical activity doesn’t have to be a chore. It can actually be a lot of fun. Look for ways in which you can enjoy life on your feet and off your ass.
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