10 Tips to Help You Stay Active

Staying active is essential to ensuring good health and preventing burnout. As well as helping to prevent illnesses, staying active lowers your stress and anxiety levels, improves your problem-solving capabilities, boosts your energy levels and increases confidence. Exercising as part of a group can also be a great way to build your network.

If you’re looking for advice on staying active, you’ll want to read this article. Here are 10 tips to help you stay active when your time is limited.

Yoga, or even a few simple stretches, can be a great way to invigorate you in the morning and relax you in the evening. There are lots of 10-15 minute routines that you can squeeze into your hectic day. Brett Larkin’s 15-minute morning yoga routine and 10-minute bedtime yoga fix are fantastic for when you’re short on time! There’s no journey to the gym, and you can watch the videos via many devices, so you can stay active in any room in the house or even in the garden if the weather is nice.

One of the best ways to stay active is by climbing stairs. But when we’re in a hurry, we often opt for the elevator instead. Although it may be a great time-saver, it’s also a major enemy of fitness. So, opt for the stairs wherever possible instead of heading straight for the lift. If you struggle to use the stairs all the way, start with a floor or two and build it up as your fitness and speed increase.

Trampolining is a great way to stay active, get fit and have fun simultaneously.

You will usually find yourself laughing while bouncing around, which will result in your body releasing more endorphins than exercising alone. This will make you feel even happier! If the children are on the trampoline, why not join them? It’s a great way to spend some family time, and why should they get to have all the fun?

Try skipping for 10 minutes 2-3 times a day. Staying active by skipping helps improve cardio-respiratory fitness, flexibility and coordination. It’s also great for trimming those unwanted pounds after an indulgent holiday or weekend. Did you know you can burn over 100 calories in just 10 minutes of skipping?

If 10 minutes is too much to start with, try 5 minutes and add a minute each week until you can skip for 10 minutes with ease.

While we all need to take time to relax, some light exercise while watching your favourite program can make a huge difference. Whether you have a stepper, treadmill, exercise bike or rowing machine at home, or if you coordinate a trip to the gym when your program is on, it’s a great way to stay active and kill two birds with one stone.

If you are office-based, why not start a club to take a brisk walk or a jog for 30 minutes over lunch? It’s a great way to get you and your staff out in the fresh air, re-energise for the afternoon, and engage with your team away from the office, creating more of a work-life balance.

Attending a local class each week is a great way to ensure consistency when staying active, even if only once a week. Going with a friend or colleague will help keep you accountable. Plus, you’ll get to know other people that attend the class and grow your network.

Do you play squash, badminton or golf? These kinds of sports are great activities to do while networking. If you don’t currently play any of these sports, why not add learning a new sport to your list of goals?

Are you an active family? If not, think about all the things you can do together that are more active. This could include going on a bike ride, taking a walk around a lake or reservoir, stopping for a picnic, and engaging in water sports such as kayaking or windsurfing. If the weather is terrible, how about ten-pin bowling or mini-golf?

I am the first to hold my hand up and admit how easy it is to arrange a meal or a few drinks when catching up with friends. These are things that just about everyone is happy to do, and they take very little organising. Why not put a little more thought into organising your get-together and doing something active? There are the regular exercise classes or running clubs. However, if you want to have a giggle with the girlies, how about trying a belly dancing or pole dancing class together?

Whatever you decide to do, ensure you include time to exercise when planning your day and get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day. Most importantly, have fun with it!