During the winter months, it can be especially difficult to fit physical activity into your day. Many people who enjoy being physically active outside when it is warm find it challenging to identify activities to do indoors. It is also common for some people to want to curl up under a blanket to keep warm during the winter months. Instead of hibernating, try participating in physical activity to get your muscles moving and your heart pumping!
There are plenty of things we can do in our homes or work places to get physical activity. Stairways, for example, are great for getting in a little activity. If your office building has stairs, try using at least 10 minutes of your lunch break to take a few trips up and down the stairs. Aim to do at least another 10 minutes at the end of the day. You can also take a few trips up and down the stairs in your home. A few local organizations have walking groups. The groups walk laps around the hallways in a building in the winter months. Try to get some friends together to walk indoors. There are a number of activities you can do using an office chair or kitchen chair. Watch this video on WebMD’s website (http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/video/office-exercises-in-5-minutes) for some exercises you can do at your office.
Visit the library for different fitness videos or DVDs that you can borrow each week. When at the grocery store, take a few extra laps around the store before starting your shopping. Check with a fitness or community center to see if they will let you pay for only the months or classes you want instead of the whole year. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/videos/) for videos of some muscle strengthening activities you can do at home. Remember to always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.
The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week (which averages out to about 30 minutes of activity 5 days of the week). I recently watched a presentation that put this amount of activity into a very interesting perspective. Instead of thinking of fitting in 30 minutes of activity into each day, think of it as limiting sitting and laying down to 23.5 hours per day. In viewing it this way, we have 23.5 hours in each day to do whatever we want—work, sleep, eat, watch TV, play on the computer, etc.—and at least 30 minutes for physical activity.