10 ways to sneak in exercise every day

1.Make your bed: You’ll get your muscles moving first thing after you get up, and you’ll appreciate the beautiful, beckoning sight come bed time.

2.Park far from the location: Don’t stress over trying to get the closest possible spot to your destination. Plan ahead of time to park farther away, and not only will you be more at peace, but also end up walking extra. It’s a win-win!

3.Step it up with the stairs: As clichéd as this sounds, it is a tried and tested method that surely works! Stair climbing is a great cardiovascular exercise that may feel difficult if you’re not accustomed, but over time, your body will adapt and your heart (and thighs!) will thank you – most of us don’t go up to the 20th floor any way.

4.Get little office chores done: Assistants are great, but they secretly derive the physical benefit of doing your busy work while you spend more time sitting still. Every now and then, give your assistant a break and do your own tasks such as filing, photo-copying or fetching coffee.

5.Schedule a daily break-time walk: Put it on your calendar so you’re less likely to get over-absorbed with work and can’t use the excuse that you forgot. Better yet, get a co-worker to join you on the walk — both for company and accountability. Even 10 or 15 minutes is better than nothing at all.

6.Stand up; take the call: If you spend a lot of time on the phone at work, use that time to stretch your legs and flex some muscles. The person on the other line won’t have a clue how odd you look; and if you wish to avoid wary eyes around you at office, step out of the room to answer calls.

7.Walking meetings are a thing: Getting together with co-workers or friends often takes place over coffee or food, sitting down. As an alternative to the sedentary meeting, suggest going on a walk; after all, getting the blood flowing helps brain function better and will give you more creative ideas.

8.Revamp the office or home: Moving things around every now and then is healthy for both body and mind. Don’t wait for your co-worker to do a few things. Keep things clean and tidy throughout the year by making regular efforts to dust, vacuum, sweep, put away things and clean surfaces. For the home, choose a different room or chore for each night of the week or for the weekends. Your home will sparkle and your body will glisten from the added physical activity.

9.Hand-wash dishes: After preparing food, though it seems like a chore, wash the dishes by hand. Rather than loading them into the dishwasher, which often uses more water and energy and does a less efficient job than hand-washing, use some elbow grease to scrub your dishes sparkly clean.

10.Shake a leg and LOL: Whether cooking, cleaning, car-washing, or heading for a night out, get rid of some calories while simultaneously filling your soul with nothing but dance therapy. Alternatively, as a recently study suggests, 10 to 15 minutes of laughter could increase energy expenditure by 10 to 40 calories per day.

With inputs from onegreenplanet.org