Incidental Exercise

A few months back Bishop Newton and I were discussing our training schedules and he mentioned how he hadn't had the time to workout as much as he would like.  Because he didn't have a lot of extra time he was finding other ways to help himself stay fit.  He referred to this effort as incidental exercise.  The examples he gave were how he tries to park his car the furthest from the door as possible and how he always tries to take the stairs.  

22 floors total (Talk about a stair master)

Simply put, Incidental Exercise is the movements you engage in during your everyday life.  We all have tasks we complete throughout the day that require varying levels of physical exertion.  Most of the time we try to make each task as easy as possible, which is only natural, but to get more out of our everyday routines we should always choose to do them the hard way.  

The nice thing about incidental exercise is that it's really easy to do.  It requires the minimum amount of motivation since you're just adding to the tasks you're already doing.  To help you all get started I've brainstormed a few ideas of how you can incidentally get some exercise while you putter through your day.  

≽ Stand instead of sit whenever possible

≽ Sit on a medicine ball instead of a chair

≽ Walk or ride a bike to school, church, or work

≽ Carry the heavy items when helping people move

≽ Hide the TV remote so you have to get up

≽ Have your washer and dryer on separate floors (This one is for you mom)

≽ Do your own gardening and lawn maintenance instead of hiring out

≽ Walk to the store to pick up the milk

≽ Walk up the escalator instead of lazily standing on it (One of my biggest pet peeves)

≽ Get off Trax one stop early

≽ Take those papers to your coworker instead of using the inter-office mail

≽ Play with your kids instead of just watching them

≽ Walk on a treadmill while reading, watching a show, or playing video games

≽ Do calf raises while waiting at the bus stop

The gardens outside of the Assembly Hall at Temple Square

Hopefully those are enough ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  I'll leave the rest up to you!  Now get out there and start being less lazy than you are right now!  

Remember, progress is the key.