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I’m always astounded when I see people waiting in line to use the treadmill at the gym on a beautiful Saturday morning. I think to myself, it’s a beautiful warm sunny Southern California day, why are so many people waiting, inside, to walk in place? There are so many things they could be doing to get exercise. Walking outside and breathing fresh air seems the most obvious.

This gym in reference is a mere 3 miles from the beach with many miles of paved walkways running both north and south. There are dozens of nice, safe neighborhoods to walk through, the mountains are a short distance away to hike or bike, there are parks and green belts and even a large selection of schools with tracks and bleachers to walk or run on. With all this, and more, why are so many people indoors?

I think the answer to this question is, people are used to going to the gym. They get stuck in a routine or a pattern and they don’t think about what they are doing. They know they need to exercise and you must go to the gym for exercise, right?

I believe with a little creative thinking a person can work fitness into their everyday life and never have to go to the gym for cardiovascular exercise again.

There are many ways to add exercise to your everyday life. For example, taking the stairs burns many more calories than their passive counterparts. Sometimes stairs are hard to find so you may need to seek them out, but your heart and legs will thank you for it in the long run. Also, parking your car at the far end of the parking lot instead of at the closest will force you to walk a little more, thereby adding up your calories burned. Remember, cardiovascular exercise is cumulative, so every little bit adds up, five minutes here, ten minutes there, before you know it you’ll have an hours worth of exercise saved up and you won’t even need to go to the gym. Think of how much time that will save.

Another good practice to get into is walking during your lunch break. Find a place that’s a ten to fifteen minute walk from where you work, eat your lunch and then walk back. On your walk back you will mobilize some of those calories that you just ate and cause them to be used as fuel instead of heading straight for the fat cells.

When you get home from work in the evening, tired from the long day of sitting at a desk, try doing something instead of flopping in front of the TV. It may be hard to believe but muscles feel tired and sore after long periods of inactivity. Living organisms need to move. They need exercise. Picture amoebas, sharks, plants and hamsters; hamsters and mice have a wheel in their cage to run on. They know they need exercise and they will do it themselves. Take that wheel away and its muscles will atrophy, wither and it will eventually die. The same thing happens to humans. A person feels tired from inactivity because they haven’t allowed their energy to release and flow.

When you get home in the evening try taking the dog or the kids for a walk. Gardening or yard work are also good activities. If you have errands to run, try riding a bike or walking instead of driving a car. If you’re in a snowy climate, cross-country skiing is a good way to get around and burn heaps of calories. Shoveling snow and even sledding are great ways to get exercise.

If you simply must watch TV, try hooking a generator up to a stationary bike to power that television. This way, you will save electricity, save your health and be entertained.

With all the modern conveniences of today, it’s very easy to do nothing physically: remote controls, microwave ovens, automobiles, elevators, all these things are great, but they are causing our society’s health to wane. If you can increase your physical activity by 10% you will increase your calories burned and your health by 10% also.

If you have a desk job, there are a number of little things that you can do on a daily basis which add up to improved physical health and takes very little time, if any, away from your job. Anytime you have to wait for something with your computer, say printing, opening a program or a reboot, drop and do a few pushups, crunches or squats. Even stretching will invigorate your muscles to improve circulation and alertness. Your co-workers may try it too.

While waiting to cross the street you could walk in place. You may not look like everyone else but if it catches on, you’ll be a trendsetter.

Instead of e-mailing or calling a coworker on the phone walk to their office.
Instead of hiring gardeners to care for your yard, do it yourself.

Some things will take more time, but you might find you enjoy them. Gardening can be very relaxing. So can hanging laundry out on a line to dry. These also burn more calories then the alternatives.

There are many little things you can do to burn more calories. Think of it this way; doing anything burns more calories than doing nothing. For example, standing versus sitting, pacing versus standing, walking fast instead of walking slow. You will burn more calories in cold weather, or cold water because the body has to work harder to keep the body temperature warm.

Suffice it to say, the more active you are in your ordinary, everyday life, the more calories you will burn. Then, when you go out and play a vigorous sport like swimming, tennis, skiing or just go for a run you know you will be burning that many more calories.
So get up, get out and get moving. Keep your body fit.

Below is a list of activities and their approximate caloric values based on body weight.