How to increase exercise without joining a gym

In order to lose weight, it is always beneficial to increase exercise levels so as to burn more calories.

Increased exercise does not mean that you have to join a gym or go jogging every day. In fact, most people do not have the time or motivation to go join a gym.

For the average person who wishes to drop a couple of pounds without too much effort, there are ways to increase your exercise levels so that you will hardly even notice that you are doing more exercise.

Of course for the select few that are seeking that ripped and sculpted perfect body, you will probably need to spend a couple of hours a day at a gym and have a personal trainer in order to attain that body.

Burning more calories without joining a gym

When we think of burning calories to lose weight we often tend to think that we have to do 30 minutes of exercise and build up a sweat so as to burn those extra calories. In fact, this is not totally correct.

Everything that you do throughout the day requires some sort of energy and therefore burns calories. Calorie burning is cumulative throughout the day so all the little things that you do add up and account for calories being burnt.

Weight loss is a matter of Calories consumed – calories burnt = weight lost/gained.

Simply by increasing your total daily physical activity by a mere 10% you are already well on your way to losing weight and improving your health.

Example

I am seated behind a computer screen almost 14 hours a day and my exercise level is almost zero. Needless to say, my weight started to creep up. Once a day we drive out to the shops to get what we need for the day. However one of these shops is only about 500m away from the house.

I started making a point of excluding this shop from our once-a-day car outing and instead take a walk to this particular shop at a convenient time each day. The difference in my weight was incredible and apart from the walk controlling my weight I feel so much better as well.

Simple ways for you to increase exercise

Here are some tips that could assist you to increase your exercise levels and improve weight loss without much effort on your part. Bear in mind again that exercise is cumulative so the more physical activity you do throughout the day the more calories you end up burning.

• Walk a little bit more – If you are fortunate enough to have your own car then wherever you go park at the furthest point possible from where you intend to be. This forces you to walk just that little further. If you use public transport then trying using the next drop off/collection point to the one you normally use. The little extra walking goes a long way to reducing your waistline.
• Play with the kids or dog – Set aside just 10 or 15 minutes a day to play with the kids or dog. The activity produced is probably equivalent to any gym workout and the kids or dog (or both) will enjoy the extra attention that they are receiving.
• Do more housework – Small housework activities such as sweeping the floor can burn a lot of calories. If you sweep once a day then try to change this to twice a day etc.
• Try not to stand still – A good deal of everyone’s day is spent motionless waiting for something. Waiting for the boss to say something, waiting for the kettle to boil, waiting in a bank queue, etc. Keep moving – tap your foot, sway your hips (not too provocatively), or do something else suitable. While you are moving your body is burning calories.

The above are just 4 examples of how to easily increase your exercise without any real effort. I bet there are hundreds of more ways that you could think of to increase your physical daily activity and the only real effort on your part would be to actually implement these little tips.