5 Easy Ways to Sneak Fitness Into Your Life
Movement is all that matters
I follow someone on Instagram who works out five days a week. She’s in her early 40s but looks no older than 25. She’s fit. In fact, she’s a ‘fitfluencer’. So, it’s her job to be fit, to look lean, muscular… you get the drift.
But for a lot of us, being fit is a chore. A chore that comes in the way of our work, social life, and other activities that are seemingly more important.
As someone who’s been a dance fitness instructor and has helped thousands of others shed their inhibitions and preconceived notions, I can tell you this.
You don’t need to exercise to be fit. You just need to move. You just need to be active. That’s why they say ‘fitness is a lifestyle’.
So, stop thinking of it as a chore!
I’m going to give you some tips on how you can be fit without making too many changes to your daily routine.
Shift your perspective
We have been fed such nonsense about how our bodies must look that most of us tend to associate ‘thin’ with ‘fit’ and ‘fat’ with ‘unfit’.
Fitness is really about how well you can go about your day without feeling tired or lethargic. There’s no appearance associated with it.
So, ditch the thought that you need to look a certain way if you are to be fit.
I say this because so many people don’t see many ‘visible results’ after they commence their fitness journey and give up.
Sometimes, there’s more to things than what the eye can see.
Set a simple, achievable goal
“I’m going to walk 5000 steps a day this entire week!”
“I’m not going to eat any sugar this week.”
See how these are short, easy goals. You don’t have to be lofty about goal-setting. It can be very basic. And believe me, it’s always the basics that take you places.
Read that again!
So, set a goal that you know you can achieve and hold yourself accountable to it. Better still, announce it to all your friends and have them follow up. They will not disappoint.
Wondering how to hit 5k steps?
Walk whenever you can. If your workplace is close to your home and you don't live in a hot city like me, walk to the office.
Walk to the supermarket. Take the stairs whenever possible. Choose to have in-person meetings and if you’re meeting with just one or two people, maybe make it a walking meeting.
Make walking your best friend. Your companion when in doubt, your idea-generating activity, and your reflective journal.
Progressive overload
You’ve set a goal and let’s say you have successfully achieved it (congratulations!).
Take it up a notch now.
Let’s assume you have time only for 5000 steps a day. Stick to it. But see if you can make it interesting.
For instance, does your day allow you to do a run + walk? Can you take a different route to get someplace — one that involves uphill climbs? Do you carry your laptop in a backpack? Can you add some dumbbells to it to add some resistance?
I know this coworker who has a resistance band in her desk drawer. When she’s on client calls, she finishes off a few reps of curls, overhead extensions, shoulder pulls, squats, and lunges, courtesy of the band. Twice a week, she bicycles to work.
I’ve seen this woman go from walking to work, walking everywhere in the office, to creating a mini desk gym, and investing in a bicycle. She has two little kids and her parents live with her. So, she’s slowly but steadily built herself a sanctuary.
Do your own work
This is specifically for those of you who live in India where help is affordable. We all have become so dependent on our maids, cooks, gardeners, and other help that we have forgotten what it’s like to do these things.
Try giving them Sundays off. And take it upon yourself to cook and clean. The traditional jhaadoo-pocha (sweeping and mopping) can help burn a few hundred calories quite easily.
Similarly, sit cross-legged on the floor when you must chop vegetables. I usually make a salad in the evenings and I turn on the TV, sit on the floor, and enjoy the entire salad-making process.
Being able to sit on the floor is a sign of mobility. And we need to be strong and mobile if we are to be fit. My 82-year-old great-uncle can squat at will. He’s mobile, happy, and independent.
Keep moving
At the end of the day, if we don’t use our muscles, they will atrophy (shrink and die). So, we must continue to give them work. If you have been sitting for too long, take a break, shake your arms and legs, touch your toes, and do some squats, and a few push-ups — get that blood flowing through your muscles.
If you’re feeling crazy, do a few burpees, high knees, jumping jacks. Jolt your body out of the lethargy.
Because nobody else can and will do it for you.
TL;DR
- Stop thinking that you need to be six-pack abs fit.
- Set simple goals that you know you can achieve and hold yourself accountable.
- Keep making steady progress
- Do your own work
- Move more
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