Now that it’s getting colder outside, many of us are finding that we’re getting less physical activity than we were in the summer. When it’s warm and sunny out, exercise seems almost effortless. Pool days, hikes, outdoor sports, even dancing at outdoor concerts – so many of our summer activities involve exercise.
But come fall, it’s often a lot harder to find the time to get that same level of exercise. This is one of the major reasons why people experience “the autumn blues” – which often last through the winter and even into spring. Exercise is absolutely crucial for mental health, and when you’re not getting enough of it, then you’ll likely find yourself feeling less than your best.
At the same time, fall is often a busier season for many of us. Instead of the long, lazy days of summer, we find our schedules suddenly crammed full with work, school, and the kids’ activities. It often gets even worse as we enter the holiday season. We’ve got a whole pile of holiday expectations on our plates – the season can be magical, but there’s just so much to do.
So how are you supposed to find time to exercise?
For years, I’ve been using a very simple method for getting more physical activity into my day. I’ve seen it work well for many of my clients as well. It’s known as opportunistic exercise.
What is opportunistic exercise?
Basically, opportunistic exercise involves adding movement into your daily life.
In many cases, this means that you make things a little less convenient for yourself. Modern technology makes our lives so much easier than they used to be – too easy, really. We no longer have physical activity automatically built into our days. Your great-grandparents didn’t have to think about getting in a workout – exercise was just a part of their lives, because it was necessary for them to get things done. Because technology now makes our lives so easy, this generally isn’t the case for us.
With opportunistic exercise, you simply look for ways to work physical activity into your day. When you get exercise this way, it doesn’t feel like a workout, and you don’t have to find 30 minutes to an hour to do it. Instead, it just takes a few extra minutes at a time – or sometimes even no extra time at all, just a little extra effort.
Opportunistic exercise removes one of the main barriers to getting enough physical activity. Many people really want to exercise, because they know how beneficial it is. But somehow they come to the end of each day and realize that they once again haven’t managed to find the time to work out that day. Life seems to have a way of keeping all of us busy, no matter how good our intentions are. With opportunistic exercise, you don’t have to find the time to work out – which means that you’re much more likely to actually get the physical activity that you need to thrive.
What are some examples of opportunistic exercise?
There are tons of simple ways to work exercise into your day. Here are a few ideas:
Have walking meetings instead of sitting down
Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
Wash your own car instead of using the car wash
Mow your own lawn instead of hiring someone else to do it
Shovel your own sidewalk when it snows (bonus points: shovel your neighbor’s too!)
Do squats while you brush your teeth
Carry your groceries to your car instead of using a cart
Take a walk while you talk on the phone
Park in the farthest spot in the parking lot from your destination
Do planks or pushups during TV commercials
Basically, you’re looking for any way to incorporate exercise into your day. If there’s an opportunity to choose a more active way of doing something (like taking the stairs or carrying your own groceries), make that choice every time. If you ever find yourself sitting or standing still while doing something, consider whether you could add some exercise to that activity (like doing squats while brushing your teeth or taking a walk while talking on the phone).
Does opportunistic exercise really work?
At this point, a lot of people may be wondering whether opportunistic exercise is truly effective. My clients are often skeptical that things could really be this easy. When you get your exercise just a few minutes at a time, is it actually just as good as doing a whole workout?
The research on exercise clearly indicates that it’s the total amount of exercise that you do that matters for your health. It doesn't seem to matter whether you do it a few minutes at a time or all at once. In fact, there are quite a few published research studies showing that people get the same benefits from exercise whether they do it all at once or in smaller chunks throughout the day.
The beauty of opportunistic exercise is that it helps to make sure that you’re still getting some exercise in each and every day, even if you don’t manage to find time for a workout that day. If you want to go for a hike or a run or hit the gym, you can definitely still do it. It’s not like you have to choose one or the other.
Even if you’re already consistently working out, adding in some opportunistic exercise could have benefits for you. For example, maybe you already go for a run each morning. Adding in some pushups while watching TV can help you to balance out your fitness with some strength training for your arms. You can gain health benefits without needing to find extra time in your day for another workout.
Support for building a healthy lifestyle
If you’re working towards building a healthier lifestyle to support better skin health, I’d like to invite you to join Mind Gut Skin Academy. This is my signature program, where I offer you my entire roadmap to your best possible self-confidence and skin health. Using the latest scientific research, I give you simple but powerful ways to create a sustainable healthy lifestyle. You’ll also have access to our communities, where you can connect with others who are on a similar journey to get tips, advice, and support.
If you’ve been struggling to get in a daily workout, opportunistic exercise allows you to work it into your busy day, which helps to ensure that you're consistently getting the physical activity that you need. This will pay huge dividends in terms of how you feel on a daily basis. All is really takes is a simple mindset shift. Start looking for opportunities to be just a little bit more active, and you'll notice the difference.
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