Between being busy with work and spending time with your family, it can be difficult to find the time to exercise. It’s important to take care of your body when you can, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. To help you stay in shape and keep your heart healthy, we’ve outlined some creative ways for you to take more steps each day below.
Walk With Your Friends
Sometimes the best way to start a healthy habit is to recruit some friends to hold you accountable. If you go on walks with your friends and socialize along the way, you get the added bonus of being able to strengthen your relationships in your spare time.
You might start with one friend, and then decide to invite some more. Before you know it, you’ll be looking forward to your daily exercise with your new group of walking buddies.
Listen to an Audiobook
If you’re not used to walking, you might find it boring at first. To help you start this healthy habit, choose an entertaining or educational audiobook to listen to while you walk. You might even challenge yourself to walk for a chapter a day. This habit gives you the added benefit of being able to learn more while you get your body moving.
Walk Your Dog
The only thing better than walking and getting a breath of fresh air is doing so with a furry friend. If you don’t have a dog of your own, you could even offer to walk a friend’s dog. Interacting with animals is known to decrease cortisol levels and reduce loneliness, meaning that walking your dog can be the best thing to do on a stressful day.
Park Further From Work
If you commute to your workplace, park your car a fair distance away from the office. This way you can get in some extra steps and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. If you live close enough, you might even walk the whole way to work.
If you work from home, you could also practice a self-imposed commute where you walk around the block to clear your mind before you start working.
Walk to Your Errands
Whether you want to buy a coffee or some food for dinner, consider lacing up your running shoes to walk to the local shops and restaurants around your neighborhood. You might even become a regular and get to know the employees that work at the establishments around your home.
Final Thoughts
Walking is one of the best and easiest ways to stay physically active and keep your heart healthy. Just try not to burn yourself out by walking an enormous distance all at once. What’s most important is that you start slow so you can establish a sustainable habit. For more creative ways to walk more each day, check out the infographic below.
Please include attribution to Adidas.com with this graphic.
