How to Get Accidental Exercise in Your Every Day Life!

When you work all day, and have chores and appointments all night, it's very hard to find the time to schedule in a solid 30 minutes to an hour of exercise. What do you do when you feel like you have no time at all, but you really want to get into better shape? It's time for some Accidental Exercise! I thought I had invented the term Accidental Exercise, but I just googled it and found out this is a common term in the exercise world. I'm coming up with all my own tips though, based on things I have actually tried!

What is Accidental Exercise? I define Accidental Exercise as exercise you get while doing something in your everyday life. You'll understand it better once you see my exercise tips below. Basically, you enhance something you normally do every day, week, etc so that you use your body and end up getting a real workout! Accidental Exercises might not burn as much calories as a real hard-core workout, but if you feel you don't have time to workout at all, it's a good option to get your body in motion. Read my tips for Accidental Exercises that I've come up with, then look at things you do every day to see if you can turn them into an exercise of your own!

Accidental Exercise 1: Chasing the Baby - Everytime I visit my nephew, I get LOTS of exercise! Some people like to put their kid into a playpen and let him have at it, but we don't. We let him roam free all around the house, as we chase him around to make sure he doesn't get into anything! If you don't have kids, you wouldn't believe the amount of exercise you get. Walking around the house may be easy, but what about bending down every 2 seconds to stop the baby from grabbing something he shouldn't have. When your kids are older, it's still great to play with them as you will not only get time with the kids, but also get PLENTY of exercise. Kids keep you young and you have fun at the same time.

Accidental Exercise 2: Take the Stairs - My office recently moved up 3 floors. For awhile I took the elevator, but now I try at least once a day to take the stairs all the way up. I am still out of breath even after doing this for months. According to Calorie Control Council, I burn about 45-50 calories each time I take the stairs up. That may not seem like a lot, but my heart is always racing as I reach the top so I think it's very beneficial for my health!

Accidental Exercise 3: The Laundry - Forget what those new houses try to tell you, you don't need the laundry upstairs. We keep our washer and dryer in the basement and find it's great exercise. If it's too heavy for you to carry it all at once, then just make multiple trips and you'll get even more exercise out of it! When folding and putting away clothes, you can make that into exercise too. Instead of taking a whole pile back to the closet at once, try to do just a few at a time and make many trips, but try to do it fast so you aren't wasting extra time. By hustling, you'll get a great accidental workout!

Accidental Exercise 4: Don't Email, don't call, take a walk - At work a lot of people get the urge to stay at their desk all day and call/email all their coworkers instead of getting up. Make it a habit to get up and walk over to other people's desks, especially if they are close by! You'll soon find that you can easily take a lot of steps during the day. I wore a step-o-meter for a few weeks at work and found I could get 5000 steps a day just by getting up during the day instead of calling or emailing. With The Walking Site recommending 10,000 steps per day, getting 5000 at work really helps.

Accidental Exercise 5: Snow, Leaves, and Gardening - oh my! - You have to get rid of the leaves, you have to shovel the snow, and you have to trim your flowers, so of course you feel like those are awful chores. However, these are the ideal activities for accidental exercise! Be careful not to over-exert yourself if you cannot handle it, but do push yourself to the limits. Instead of simply raking leaves slowly and cautiously, put your back into it! Take long reaches and grab leaves as far as you can and then push them as far as you can. When it comes to snow, shovel small manageable amounts at a time, and lift them high before dumping them onto the pile. Don't try to shovel huge amounts at once, take smaller pieces so you don't hurt yourself. I actually have fun shoveling snow now!

Accidental Exercise 6: Organize something that doesn't necessarily need organizing - There are various things in my house that are a little messy, but I just deal with them. Whenever I get motivated, I pick a closet and decide to completely organize it. This means taking everything out and putting everything back in an organized matter. Organizing even one closet could take 30 minutes and give you a great workout if you try to move fast. Not only that, but you end up with a very organized closet in the end! I couldn't believe how fast I got worn out when I was trying to reorganize and combine my CDs with my husband's. Even the simplest task can take a lot of energy when it involves getting up and down a lot.

Accidental Exercise 7: Put some Muscle into your cleaning - The final idea I use on a daily basis is to really put muscle into your chores. Don't just wipe the tub, scrub the tub! Don't just push dirt around on the floor, get down and really rub out all the scuffs! Whatever you are cleaning, if you really put some muscle behind it you'll end up feeling like you just did a 30 minute workout video.

The end! Now that you've heard some of my ideas, you can probably come up with many of your own from your everyday life. Exercise videos get dull, especially when you feel you don't have the time. What better way to exercise then to do it while you are already doing something else you wanted to do anyway! Look for Accidental Exercise opportunities throughout your day and within a few weeks you'll start feeling healthier and happier. Enjoy!!