Easy Ways to Start Exercising

Making Exercise a Fun Part of Your Everyday Life

In This ArticleExercise doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or force yourself into monotonous or painful activities you hate to experience the physical and emotional benefits. Adding just a little physical activity to your weekly routine can have a profound effect on your mental and emotional health. Whatever your age or fitness level—even if you’ve never exercised a day in your life before—you can find simple, fun ways to add more movement into your life and start to feel better, look better, and enjoy life more.

How much exercise do you need?

Exercising moderately for 30 minutes, five times a week is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health. Can’t find 30 minutes in your busy schedule? That’s okay, two 15-minute workouts or three 10-minute workouts can be just as effective.
If that still seems like a daunting amount of time to spend exercising, don’t despair. Even just a little physical activity is better than none at all. Try starting by taking a short walk on most days, and gradually build up the length of your sessions from there. It takes about 4 weeks for an activity to become a habit so commit to maintaining your schedule for at least that long. As exercising becomes habit, you can slowly add extra minutes or try different types of activities. If you keep at it, the benefits you experience will begin to mount.

How hard do I need to exercise?

Forget “no pain, no gain,” you don’t need to be a fitness fanatic or gym rat to reap the rewards of exercise. Research has shown that mild to moderate activity is enough to change your life for the better. Moderate activity means:

1. That you breathe a little heavier than normal, but are not out of breath. For example, you should be able to chat with your walking partner, but not easily sing a song.
2. That your body feels warmer as you move, but not overheated or very sweaty.

Do I need different types of exercise?

While any kind of exercise offers tremendous health benefits, different types of exercise focus more on certain aspects of your health. Mixing up the different types of exercise can add variety to your workouts and broaden the health benefits.

• Aerobic activities like running, cycling, and swimming strengthen your heart and increase your endurance.
• Strength training like weight lifting or resistance training builds muscle and bone mass, improves balance and prevents falls. It’s one of the best counters to frailty in old age.
• Flexibility exercises like stretching and yoga help prevent injury, enhance range of motion, reduce stiffness, and limit aches and pains.

Exercise is as Good for Your Mind as it is Your Body

Everyone knows that regular exercise is good for the body. It can help you to control your appetite, lose weight, shed inches, and lower your risk for a variety of serious diseases. But the benefits don’t stop there. Exercise is as effective as antidepressant medication at relieving depression and boosting your mood. It can also help you to relieve stress and anxiety, improve your self-esteem, sleep better, and cope with life’s challenges in a healthy, positive way. Read: How Exercise Benefits Depression, Anxiety, and Stress.

Easy ways to start exercising tip 1: Move more in your daily life

If you're not ready to commit to a structured exercise program, think about physical activity as a lifestyle choice rather than a single task to check off your to-do list. Look at your daily routine and consider ways to sneak in activity here and there. Even very small activities can add up over the course of a day.

• In and around your home. Clean the house, wash the car, tend to the yard and garden, mow the lawn with a push mower, sweep the sidewalk or patio with a broom.
• At work and on the go. Look for ways to walk or cycle more. For example, bike or walk to an appointment rather than drive, banish all elevators and use the stairs, briskly walk to the bus stop then get off one stop early, park at the back of the lot and walk into the store or office, take a vigorous walk during your coffee break. Walk while you’re talking on your cell phone.
• With friends or family. Walk or jog around the soccer field during your kid’s practice, make a neighborhood bike ride part of weekend routine, play tag with your children in the yard or play exercise video games. Walk the dog together as a family, or if you don’t have your own dog, volunteer to walk a dog from a shelter. Organize an office bowling team, take a class in martial arts, dance, or yoga with a friend or spouse.

Easy exercises for couch potatoes

"Couchersizing" during TV time builds quads, calves, and grip strength, and protects mobility.
Try "couchersizing," staying on or near your couch and exercising during commercial breaks.

Sit to stand
Go from sitting to standing to sitting again, 10 times in a row. Rest for a minute, then repeat.
Works the quadriceps in the front of the thigh and gluteal muscles in the buttocks, which helps protect your ability to get up from a chair, out of a car, or off a bathroom seat.

Calf stretch
Sit on the edge of a couch with your feet flat on the floor. With one leg, keeping your heel on the floor, lift and point the toes toward the ceiling, so that you feel a stretch in your calf muscle. Hold for 30 seconds, then do the same with the other leg, three times per leg.
Keeping your calves optimally flexible can keep your walking stride longer, reduce your risk of tripping over your toes, and reduce your risk for common foot injuries.

Stand on one leg
Holding on to the back of a chair for stability, lift one heel toward your buttocks. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds, three times per leg. To improve your balance on unsteady surfaces, try this with shoes off on a balled-up beach towel.
Balance gets better if you practice it, which can decrease the risk of falling.

Shoulder blade squeeze
Pinch your shoulder blades together, but not up (don't shrug). Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat 10 times.
Helps prevent a rounded, shoulders-forward posture that can develop from many years of sitting, especially at a computer.

Hand squeeze
While seated upright, hold a ball (the size of a basketball) over your lap with both hands, then squeeze the ball as if you're trying to deflate it. Hold for a few seconds, then release. Repeat 10 times, rest, then do another set of 10 repetitions. You can also improve your grip strength by squeezing a small rubber ball in one hand.
Keeping your grip strong makes it possible to turn a door knob, open a jar, and grasp a gallon of milk.