I’ve tried it all to get fit. Signing up to an expensive gym? Check. An intensive style personal boot camp? Check. Anti-gravity yoga? Check (although that didn’t last long.) Giving up and doing nothing? Double check.
It wasn’t until I was having a chat with a friend recently that I realised staying fit and healthy didn’t actually have to be so hard, time consuming or expensive.
She’d given up those traditional forms of exercise for “incidental” exercise – incorporating ways of working out into her routine that actually didn’t feel like working out. Rather than setting aside a set time once a day, it’s all about getting moving during your regular daily activities, often done in little bite-size chunks.
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I do a lot of walking meetings at work, particularly if we're brainstorming or working through a problem. If anyone wants to take notes they do a voice memo on their phone rather than carrying a note pad. Beats sitting around a meeting room table for an hour, and more often than not they're far more productive.
This is a major feature of the book 'French Women Don't Get Fat'. Incidental exercise, such as taking stairs instead of elevators and walking to or from something is a great way to incorporate movement into your life. During weeks where I catch the bus to work (15 minutes walk up the hill to the stop, 15 minutes down the hill to work, then the same in reverse at the end of the day), take a lunchtime walk for some sunshine, and pick up last minute groceries on foot from the Woolies a 10-minute walk away from my house, I can honestly say I feel invigorated and energised. None of these could be termed intentional exercise, and I can do them all in my work clothes and shoes, so for me incidental exercise is the best!