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Exercising is hard and requires a certain type of commitment, especially when you’re ridiculously lazy (like me). But there’s no denying the health benefits of doing some form of exercise. You’ll possibly live longer for one and you’ll just feel better.
Doing a smarter form of exercise could also ensure you can be fit and lazy (well, less lazy than you probably were than before reading this).
You don’t need to go to the gym to get some exercise. Heck, you don’t even need to go outdoors. There are tonnes of workouts tailored for those in-between moments.
Tips for working out:
• “Daily 100s” – 100 repetitions or a 100 seconds of exercise. This could take just a few minutes and you can even do them while watching TV. Think 100 Jumping Jacks, crunches or marching in one place.
• There are in-between exercises you can do discreetly (even at work). How about doing some butt squeezes at your desk, heel raises while queuing or floor presses when in a meeting? Take the steps instead of the elevator. If you work on like the 30th floor, take the elevator to the 27th floor and walk from there. If you’re someone who sits at a desk all day, try getting up every hour and doing something – walk up and down a flight of steps or around the building, for example.
• Start walking. Especially while on the phone. Know you need to chat to someone for longer than 5 minutes? Walk and talk. Have no space to walk? Walk in place and talk.
• Have a goal and work towards it. Enter a 5km walkathon and start training for it. If that’s too easy, enter a 10km or 21km. Make it a social thing and tell your friends about it. That way it’d be more difficult to back out.
• Speaking of walking: Don’t spend that extra 5 minutes trying to find the closest parking. Park further away and walk to your destination.
• Workout while watching TV. Ever heard of Workout Games? It’s a thing. These exercises are almost like drinking games. Whenever something happens in a certain show (like a scene taking place in the Oval Office in Scandal/The Fixer, you jog in one place). And the more you watch, the fitter you’ll become!
• According to Alice Beverton-Palmer, website editor of Women’s Health UK, exercise like Pilates is perfect for when you don’t want to break a sweat. They’ll strengthen your muscles and because you don’t need to shower, you can be in and out of the gym in no time.
• Think of joining a team or exercising with friends. Ladies soccer, netball, ballroom dancing? The world is your oyster. If exercise is social, not only do you meet friends, you often don’t even realise you’re busting a sweat.
