5 Of The Best Ways To Exercise Outside The Gym

You don’t need to pay a small fortune every month to Virgin’s Richard Branson or any of the Dragon’s Den folk to keep fit. You don’t even need to wear Lycra shorts or sweat bands with your iPod either. You are surrounded by activities which could be considered a workout. All you need to do is identify them and, more importantly, take advantage of them. They might even get you brownie points for all the work you do around the house?

 

#1 – Take The Stairs

We love escalators and lifts as we don’t have to do anything. It’s natural. When we are presented by an escalator or a staircase, we’ll always choose the easiest option.

However, the stairs can be our friend. You could be working on the fifth floor and instead of taking that 60 second lift journey, why not take the 8 min journey up the stairs? That cardio workout will burn calories, keep you fit and give you longer to think of excuses to tell your boss about why that report hasn’t been finished yet!

 

#2 – Your Body Is A Gym

A lot of people think rowing machines, cross-country machines or treadmills are the be-all and end-all of working out. They are not! Your body is a gym, and all you need to know is how to get the most out of it.

They seem boring – even reminiscent of SchoolPE lessons – but press-ups, sit-ups, spot running, stomach crunches and a whole host of other activities can be done, quite cheaply, by you in a spacious room. All you need to remember to do is warm up and cool down. Do a couple of reps of press-ups and sit-ups every day and you’ll notice a change within a few weeks.

 

#3 – Let’s Dance

It’s rumoured that the human body burns nearly 500 calories in a single hour of nightclub-fuelled dancing. So, next time your buddies ask you to go out on a Friday night start considering it a workout!

You could join a dance group – learn to do the Viennese Waltz or even Argentinean Tango and have a workout at the same time. There are even video games on Xbox, PS3 and Nintendo Wii that allow you to play dancing games – these are both fun and incredibly healthy and active. So next time you want a workout why not dance the Macarena?

 

#4 – Get Walking

Walking is one of the best forms of fitness. Your body walks nearly 4.2 miles a day – think about it you wake-up, go to the bathroom, walk to your kitchen, leave the house, go to work, work – walk around the office or warehouse a multitude of times to complete your work and then you go home. Plus, there are walks to kitchens, shops and bedrooms.

It’s all very tiresome. However, if you’re interested in losing a bit of weight why not ditch the car and walk to work every day? This could even mean taking the dog for a walk. There are many ways you can walk yourself to fitness, so why not give it a chance as you never know where the road will take you?

 

#5 – DIY (Fitness Style!)

Shoveling, hammering and pushing are all actions that mimic the many different apparatus in a gym. They are all around you at home in the shape of odd jobs and chores. Your wife or partner might be moaning that the back garden needs a tidy or that the cellar or attic needs to be cleaned and remodeled. This is an exercise.

Why not use the time productively and get fit whilst undertaking a little DIY around the home? Shoveling soil in a garden, cutting wood, lifting compost bags and other jobs are all tiresome but are nonetheless a workout. So next time you think about getting out of a DIY job simply man up and think of it as a workout!

 

Conclusion

This article has saved you the obligatory thirty or forty pounds a month gym membership fees. Yet, this saving has also resulted in you saving money on petrol, becoming fitter and doing more around the home. People don’t need to go to the gym; why not walk to work, do some DIY, try dance classes, use your body as a gym or take the stairs at work or in public. These little ‘mini’ workouts, combined, will make a huge difference to your fitness, health and overall well-being.