{"id":543,"date":"2008-10-14T21:48:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-14T19:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morten.me\/?p=543"},"modified":"2015-10-17T08:44:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T06:44:05","slug":"20-no-sweat-ways-to-get-more-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/morten.me\/?p=543","title":{"rendered":"20 no-sweat ways to get more exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In the spirit of finding ways to get your body moving, Harvard Medical School made the following 20 suggestions for ways to become a little bit more physically active.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take the far away spot.<\/strong> Walking from the farthest corner of the parking lot will burn a few calories. If it\u2019s a parking garage, head for the roof and use the stairs.<\/li>\n
  2. Walk to the next stop.<\/strong> If you take a bus or train, don\u2019t wait at the nearest stop. Walk to the next one. Or, at the end of your journey, get off a stop early and finish up on foot.<\/li>\n
  3. Hang loose.<\/strong> During your bus or train trip, stand and don\u2019t hold on too tightly. You\u2019ll improve your sense of balance and build up your \u201ccore\u201d back and abdominal muscles.<\/li>\n
  4. Walk and talk.<\/strong> If you are a member of a book group, propose 15 to 20 minutes of peripatetic discussion of the book before you sit down and chat.<\/li>\n
  5. Walk while you watch.<\/strong> Soccer moms, dads, and grandparents can circle the field several times during a game and not miss a single play.<\/li>\n
  6. Walk tall.<\/strong> Maintaining good posture \u2014 chest out, shoulders square but relaxed, stomach in \u2014 will help keep your back and abdominal muscles in shape. Besides, you\u2019ll just look a whole lot healthier if you don\u2019t slouch (mom was right).<\/li>\n
  7. Adopt someone as your walking, jogging, or biking buddy.<\/strong> Adding a social element to exercise helps many people stick with it.<\/li>\n
  8. That buddy might have four legs.<\/strong> Several studies have shown that dog owners get more exercise than the canine-less.<\/li>\n
  9. Be part of the fun.<\/strong> Adults shouldn\u2019t miss a chance to jump into the fray if kids are playing on a playground or splashing around in the water. Climbing on the jungle gym (be careful!) and swinging on a swing will strengthen muscles and bones and set a good example.<\/li>\n
  10. Put on your dancing shoes.<\/strong> Exercise doesn\u2019t have to be done in a straight line. Dancing can get your heart going and helps with balance. Dance classes tend to have lower dropout rates than gyms. Or just turn up the volume at home and boogie.<\/li>\n
  11. Wash and dry the dishes by hand.<\/strong> The drying alone is a mini-workout for the arms.<\/li>\n
  12. Clean house<\/strong>. Even if you have a cleaning service, you can take responsibility for vacuuming a couple of rooms yourself. Fifteen minutes burns around 80 calories. Wash some windows and do some dusting and you\u2019ve got a pretty decent workout \u2014 and a cleaner house.<\/li>\n
  13. Hide that remote.<\/strong> Channel surfing can add hours to screen time. If you have to get up to change the channel, you are more likely to turn it off and maybe do something else that\u2019s less sedentary.<\/li>\n
  14. Go swimmingly somewhere.<\/strong> Swimming is great exercise if you have arthritis because the water supports your weight, taking the load off of joints. The humid air around a pool sometimes makes breathing more comfortable for people with lung problems.<\/li>\n
  15. Don\u2019t e-mail.<\/strong> In the office, get out of your chair, walk down the hallway, and talk to the person. At home, write an old-fashioned letter and walk to a mailbox \u2014 and not the nearest one \u2014 to mail it.<\/li>\n
  16. Stand up when you\u2019re on the phone<\/strong>. Breaking up long periods of sitting has metabolic benefits. Even standing for a minute or two can help.<\/li>\n
  17. Think small.<\/strong> Small bouts of activity are better than knocking yourself out with a workout that will be hard to replicate.<\/li>\n
  18. Be a stair master.<\/strong> Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator whenever you can. It\u2019s good for your legs and knees, and your cardiovascular health will benefit from the little bit of huffing and puffing. Don\u2019t overdo. One flight at a time.<\/li>\n
  19. Stairs tip #2.<\/strong> You\u2019ll give the gluteal muscles a nice little workout if you can climb up two stairs at a time.<\/li>\n
  20. Stairs tip #3.<\/strong> You can give your calf muscles a nice little stretch by putting the ball of the foot on the stair and lowering your heel.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Enjoy. Or learn more here: Exercise: A program you can live with at http:\/\/clicks.health.harvard.edu\/t<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the spirit of finding ways to get your body moving, Harvard Medical School made the following 20 suggestions for ways to become a little bit more physically active. Take the far away spot. Walking from the farthest corner of the parking lot will burn a few calories. If it\u2019s a parking garage, head for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5226,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/5226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morten.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}