Regular exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Here are some tips to boost your energy, boost your calorie burn, and love your workouts more.
- Change your shoes. The usual advice on replacing your sneakers is to pick up a new pair every 400 miles or so. But if your activities aren’t measured in mileage, what do you do? Try to replace your sneakers after 150 hours of activity — that’s every five months if you wear your sneakers for an hour every day. They may still look new at that point, but the important internal cushioning may be wearing out.
- Sneak weight training into a busy day. Keep hand weights in your kitchen or bathroom — anywhere you may have a sink. After you wash your hands, do ten reps of an arm exercise like curls or presses. Make sure you do it every time you wash your hands and you’ll sneak in a serious amount of weight training. Target a different muscle group each day of the week for all-around toning.
- Can’t set aside a whole hour uninterrupted for exercise? It’s okay. A University of Tokyo study found that you can actually burn MORE fat if you take a twenty minute break in the middle of an hour-long cardio session. Try a half hour of exercise when you get home from work, then take a break to prepare dinner. Finish your work out while it cooks and you’ll get your whole hour AND a fat burning boost.
- Are you a walker? Walk faster. Raising your pace can help increase your lung capacity, improve knee strength, and lower your blood pressure. Try alternating your usual walking pace with 15 minute bursts of speed walking.
- Are you a walker? Walk farther. A University of North Carolina study found that women who walked longer (sixty minutes or more) had a better mood than women who walked for thirty minutes or less three days per week. Try to get a full hour workout in at least once per week for mood boosting.