68 Days | Let's Get Moving

Blog post by Certified Health Coach, Hope Bassett

1990. It was the year I started walking for exercise.

And, that's what I did for 20 years until my husband bought me Zumba videos in 2010, per my request. 

I fell in love with Zumba and, more amazingly, I could actually tolerate the activity!!! 

I had gotten healthier and I could finally DO something else for exercise other than walking, and Zumba was fun! Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy getting outside and walking, but as my family grew, my time to exercise outside of the home was diminishing.  And--can I get an "amen"?--that treadmill in the corner had BORING written all over it.  So, we sold it.  Zumba had stolen my heart...and I wasn't going to settle for second best any more.

Zumba was a great start, and I did it for a year before I started to branch out in new directions.  Here we are in 2014. I have now found several activities that I look forward to doing throughout my week for exercise. I have learned that by changing the exercise I do, it actually challenges my body and helps me get stronger and healthier more quickly. So, I rotate between 3 different formal exercise activities to keep things fresh and beneficial!

But, I also am finding ways to move throughout my day that are helping me to be healthier and at the same time are because I'm healthier. 

I can now race with my children outside. I can play tag with them in our basement. I can play soccer and kickball. These are the things I want to be doing and that also help me keep being able to do them!

Some of you are struggling with how to fit exercise into your life, and I want you to know that it IS possible. I am a busy mama of four little ones, and I look for opportunities every day to get moving.  

First, FIND WHAT YOU LOVE!  I started with walking and moved to Zumba.  I genuinely LOVE those activities.  If you start with something you enjoy, you're much more likely to do it.  

Here are a few short lists of some activities that will help you get moving. Maybe these ideas will help you think of other ways that you can incorporate movement during your day...

Movement within Your Day:

• Do squats with your abs engaged any time you stoop down to pick things up off the floor
• Do toe-lifts or march in place any time you are standing at your kitchen sink
• Park a distance away from your driving destination so you can walk some of the way
• Opt for standing in place of sitting
• Take the stairs and not the elevator
• Take stairs two at a time for a deeper lunge, but keep your core engaged
• Sit on the edge of a chair rather than the whole way back and tighten your abs. Be careful of slouching when you're sitting for long periods of time.
• Pinch a "pencil" between your shoulder blades to engage your back muscles
• Walk during your lunch break
• Playing tag or race with your children
• When going to the grocery store or Walmart, park far away and walk your cart all the way back to the store when it's time to return it.
• Do some yard work: gardening, raking, shoveling (they all burn calories)
• Go play!  Build a snowman, a fort...and find reasons to lift things!
• Bounce a baby to sleep - who doesn't want to burn a few calories this way??

Formal Exercise:

• Various squats 
• Elastic bands for arm strengthening
• Zumba - a fave of mine
• Hiking--find new trails
• Bounce on trampoline 
• Arm wrestling
• Stretching, pilates, yoga
• Bike riding - this is one of my goals for this year
• Hula hoop - another goal: for core strengthening this year!
• Walking

And in case you missed this on Facebook...this is for all of you RECOVERING couch potatoes out there:

I'd love to hear your ideas and what you do to fit activity into your life...