Six Easy Ways to Get in Your Exercise

Okay, so you know you should exercise but you just can't seem to find the time. No problem, you can work it into your day. Try one or more of these easy solutions and get fit.

1. Build Yourself a Library of Exercise DVDs

   Use them in the morning before you go to work or school. If you wait to exercise until you get home chances are you will be too hungry, too tired or too something else to actually do it.
   
   To build your exercise library check your local video store for titles. If they don't carry any that spark your interest, check online. My personal favorite is Collage Video. For years they sold videos only via catalogs but these days you can buy them online. They still send out the catalogs too (you can sign up online). I like the collage folks because they offer hundreds of selections for everything from cardio to toning to weight loss to kickboxing, yoga, boot camp, salsa, you name it. Each web page includes personal reviews from staff and customers, clips of the routines you can watch in advance, breakdowns of segments (i.e. 10 minute warmup, 25 minute cardio, 10 min cooldown, etc), instructor profiles and extensive descriptions of the routines, all of which give you a very thorough idea of what you are purchasing. Another way to build your library is to record the exercise shows on the cable stations and play them when you're ready to exercise.
   

2. Use Alternative Transportation

   A second way to exercise while saving on over-the-top gas prices is to start using alternative transportation instead of driving to work or school. If you take a bus or shuttle, chances are you will have to walk to the bus stops. If you live too far from where the bus or train stops consider bicycling to the station or stop. Many trains and buses these days permit you to take your bike onboard allowing you to cycle to your destination from the station.
   

3. Walk at Lunch

   Unless the weather is so horrific it would be unbearably uncomfortable or dangerous to walk outdoors, take advantage of this opportunity. Chances are you don't work for an organization or company that doesn't give you lunch breaks and if you do, find another job. You should have a lunch break! Keep a pair of good walking sneakers at work so you don't have to worry about bringing them back and forth.
   

4. Join an Exercise Club

   For example do you like to row, play volleyball or badminton, skate, swim or play basketball or softball? Nearly every community has a city-sponsored recreation center where you can join a team or club. If not, check your local Y, they have lots of team sports. Find yourself a team and commit to it. Not only will you make new friends but you'll get in your exercise while doing something fun that you really like.
   

5. Have a Dog?

   Well, Fido needs exercise just like you. Oh, you say you already take Fido on walks before and after work? That's great but if you're talking about walks around the block, that isn't a walk, that's a meager stroll. I'm talking about a real walk - say three miles, at least. Don't have that much time in the morning? Take Fido for 1-1/2 miles in the morning and the same in the afternoon.
   Don't have a dog? Surely you have a neighbor with one who needs exercise. Ask your neighbors if you could borrow their dogs as part of your new fitness regime. Each day you could trade off dogs. And if you don't have neighbors with dogs and you can own one where you live, visit your local animal shelter and find a friend who would love to go on walks with you.
   

6. Tone Up While You're Watching TV

   No need to just sit there on the couch like a certain starchy vegetable. Get on the floor and do sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, squats, bicep curls with cans of soup and other floor exercises. If you don't want to exercise during your favorite shows do it during the commercials. There are enough of them for you to finish your routine in a half-hour show. You'll feel a lot better about yourself and probably fall asleep faster too.