[Su-Bee]

Just wondered if anybody had any creative ideas for "sneaking" bits of exercise into your day. Like, when I am at work, every time I go to the bathroom I do a set of 10 squats before I come back out. And all of the "walk to the next cube instead of e-mailing the person." That sort of thing.

[2frustrated]

I use the bathroom downstairs and the fridge is downstairs too. I always at least take a walk at lunch if I'm not at the gym...

[nelie]

When I'm at work, I will sometimes go to one of the bathrooms that is farther away. I also will try to walk around in general when I'm at work. I also park farther away in the parking lot at work and when I'm shopping.

[mandalinn82]

I park further away whenever possible, carry my grocery bags into the house from the parking lot one at a time, and every time I leave my apartment, climb up and down the flight of stairs outside 3 times.

[BlueToBlue]

I exercise for at least an hour a day in the gym, so I don't really worry that much about sneaking in exercise in other ways. But here are a few things that I do:

I always keep moving on escalators and moving walkways and, if they are crowded, take the stairs instead. But this is partly because I can't stand to move so slow (esp. on moving walkways, they move at a crawl, I don't know how anyone can just stand there).

When I am going to multiple stores in the same shopping center, I try to park my car in the center of the parking lot and then walk to all the stores without moving the car. This is often a challenge because the shopping centers in my area seem to be designed to make people drive from one store to the next (stores are far apart, inconveniently placed entrances, etc.).

I also often times end up parking in the far end of the lot, even if I am going to only one store, but this is because I don't have the patience to wait for parking spaces (I don't understand why people do this either--most of the parking lots aren't that big, it's probably only 15 seconds to walk the extra distance), not because I'm trying to get exercise.

On weekends, I walk to the gym.

[VelVeeta]

Some of mine have been said but oh well:

I use the stairs instead of the elevator
I will go to a person's desk instead of emailing
I walk to/from work sometimes
I schedule meetings on another floor so i can walk around.

Any type of movement in my day is great and keeps me active. I think its important for everyone to try and get in as much movement in their day as possible.

[Misti in Seattle]

When I need something from the other side of my cube at work I try to remember to get UP and walk over to get it instead of just rolling my chair over.

[sugarfreeprincess]

ha, i try to sneak in anything possible! like waiting for the microwave while im heating up some tea, ill do squats or lunges. ill do cruches on commercial breaks... when i walk up stairs i do 2 at a time... and pretty much all the same as everyone else has stated as well.
every little bit counts!

[SillyFluff]

while at school i park at the REAR parking lot. I NEVER use the elevators always the stairs. I take the LONG way to class.

And at work I'm walking around all the time.

[Heather]

how about adding in a few crunches or other core exercises to your day. Or use one of those stability balls as a chair sometimes!

[callystia]

I read something about this on RealAge.com recently, actually. One of the suggested exercises was "chair crunches" while you work. Just lift your feet off the floor and bring your legs toward your chest.

I also try to "fidget" while I'm at my desk. I'm lucky enough to be able to play music whenever I like, and I just sort of bounce my legs to it, tighten my buns in an alternating rhythm, and just generally chair-dance. It sounds funny, but it really does serve to burn some extra calories!

[rockinrobin]

I have been ABSOLUTELY obsessed with sneaking in extra exercise. My family thinks I'm nuts. Tend to agree with them actually.

- My washing machine is right next to my kitchen, so unfortunately there are no stairs for me to walk up and down. So now I don't use a laundry basket anymore. I walk back and forth from the bathroom to load up the machine carrying the clothes. Same thing when I remove it from the dryer. So I'm making a cajillion trips back and forth - laundry room, bathroom, laundry room, bathroom. Told ya I was nuts.
-When I walk through and around my house I swing my arms like a lunatic.
-When I'm in the kitchen cooking and preparing meals I keep the radio on and when a really fast song comes on I just drop what I'm doing and dance like a lunatic. This happens a lot. And meals get delayed a lot.
- When I see my daughter out in the morning which is at 7:00, I do about 40 leg lifts as soon as she closes the door. Right there at the door, holding onto the bannister, in my PJ'S. I just started doing that about a week ago.
- Whenever I watch TV I get up at EVERY commercial and do something, straighten the house, walk to another room and back, whatever it is, doesn't matter, just so I get up at every commercial. And when I'm watching it I fidget around - a lot.
- When I'm at the computer reading something I bop around.

I don't know if what I'm doing is considered real exercise, but hopefully I am burning a few calories. If not I'm really wasting a lot of time, especially with the laundry.

[train]

any ideas about things you can do in the car? i tend to have to drive a lot. might be a little dangerous!..any non-exercise things?? it just feels like i am wasting so much time!

[Jen415]

Originally Posted by wyllenn

how about adding in a few crunches or other core exercises to your day. Or use one of those stability balls as a chair sometimes!

This reminds me of the episode of "The Office" where Dwight was using a stability ball for a chair and his deskmate, Jim, decided to puncture it with a pair of scissors because it was annoying him!

[dollypie]

train, listen to a book on tape or learn a new language.