Many of us know that exercise is an essential component of staying healthy, but of course, you don’t have to necessarily commit to a singular plan in order to get enough daily activity. For instance, simply playing a sport you love with your friends can be a good way to get exercise, and if you do that enough, then going to the gym or going for runs might not be as necessary.
Of course, it’s always good to have an exercise regime in place so you can keep in good shape. But what if you prefer to work out without necessarily standing on a treadmill, or going to a gym for 90 minutes three times a week? Well, luckily, moving our bodies and getting physical activity is the most natural thing in the world, so you don’t have to go too far out of your way to achieve this.
In this post, however, we’ll discuss ten natural means of getting exercise without ‘direct effort,’ as it were, that is the same focused effort you might apply to your gym. With that in mind, let’s consider:
Walk Your Dog
You’d be surprised how much exercise walking your dog can be from day to day. This is because dogs are generally quite energetic, and may wish for you to play fetch with them or walk for relatively long periods of time. This is especially true if you purchase a working dog to be your family pet, like a husky.
Walking your dog is a great time to take a break from the world while also spending some actual time in nature, which is arguably more ‘real’ than any form of online life or working from day to day. This can give you the mental relaxation necessary to truly enjoy these walking sessions, and of course, you’ll be getting exercise by walking in a natural environment such as a local park or on the outskirts of your town. Don’t be afraid to drive a little bit to a nicer park if necessary, the goal is to help both of you stretch all six of your legs combined.
Travel When You Can
Of course, travel is a great use of your time, but especially if you’re hoping to explore an area and not only lay on the beach for days at a time. For instance, take a vacation to an Italian village in a hilly environment, and you’ll be walking up and down steep inclines all day, which is a great form of exercise.
The same goes for visiting tourist traps, usually you can move around landmarks or shopping areas and cover more miles than you may do otherwise, which can be a very worthwhile use of your time.
Of course, you don’t have to view this as a form of punishing assault course, because we tend to eat more than usual on vacation too. This means that you’re sure to replace all of those calories you lost, but at least your cardiovascular system will be in better shape, especially if you’ve been carrying heavy bags around. Just be sure that you get enough protein during your stay so that your body can repair its muscles as necessary.
Consider Yoga
Yoga can be considered a form of exercise for sure, but you’d be surprised how little it feels like that when you’re focusing on improving your concentration and state of mind. Furthermore, it can truly relax you through the physical effort and slow learning of poses. This means that instead of running for twenty minutes on a treadmill, your exercise will consist of holding movements, which while hard work can feel a little less arduous than doing the same thing over and over again.
Furthermore, yoga is a meditative hobby you can really improve at, helping you feel more calm and collected than ever. It’s hard not to get a great workout out of that, as instead of the high-energy state you need to be in order to work out, focus, peace, and prolonged singular effort are the name of the game. This defines yoga as a great activity to pick up.
Fun Sporting Efforts
Sport is of course tantamount to exercise, but in a manner that engages every part of you, including your capacity to have fun and play well with others. You don’t just have to play football, baseball or any other of the top sports to get a good workout in, for instance, checking out these pickleball paddle reviews can show just how much fun you can have even with relatively niche hobbies.
No matter if you enjoy badminton, or skateboarding, or BMXing, you can have a good time if you’re focused on a technique rather than solo exercise, and you’re sure to get a great workout in if you commit to the proper form and do it right. Perhaps you just want to learn to tango with your partner, as a way to get you both out of the house and into the arms of a new hobby you can enjoy. That sounds like a wonderful direction in which to take your free time.
Play With Your Kids
If you’re lucky enough to have children, they’ll no doubt surprise you with just how much energy they have to burn. Of course, it’s a good idea to let them burn this off before they go to bed, because then they’ll be much more likely to sleep all through the night and peacefully too, which is always good.
Most of the time, your children will absolutely love to play with you! This might involve kicking a ball around the garden or just getting up to the silly kind of fun and play pretend that children are so adept at. We don’t need to go into detail about how this can tire you out and exercise seemingly every muscle of your body, but trust us when we say it will. We can’t really tell how, but sooner rather than later you’ll have achieved your workout and long for the days of that childhood energy.
Hiking Can Be Great Fun
Hiking is a great way of exploring your local environment while also really working on your cardiovascular health. Hiking is more intensive than simple walking because you may wish to scale local hills or explore in the forests of your local area. Just be sure to use the proper footwear that provides good foot and ankle support and is resistant to water and other exposure to the elements.
Group hiking is also a useful means of meeting new people without having to necessarily force yourself to find friends. There’s something about long peaceful walks and talking to those around you that can helps conversation become easy. Before you know it, you’ll have walked miles and feel much better off for it, if a little tired.
Stepper Machines
Stepper machines sounds suspiciously like exercise equipment, and of course it is, but that’s not to say they’re to be used as direct effort exercise conduits. For instance, you’ll often find a lot of potential in placing one of these under your desk, or next to your sofa while you watch your favorite television shows. Stepper machines are weighted devices that allow you to step with a little resistance. Placed under your desk at work, or in your home office, and you can technically ‘walk’ while you commit to your tasks sitting down. That can be much better than simply staying sedentary day after day. You’d be surprised just how much this can help you burn calories and keep off the pounds.
Community Activities
The best times for exercise are when we’re spending time with other people. Community activities can help you with that. Not only will this help you meet those in your local neighborhood, but it can help you get the exercise you need by committing to a voluntary action. This might involve walking around and picking up litter from your area once in a while as part of a joint effort, or donating to charity drives where hauling large bags of clothing for donation can help and raise money for a good cause. It might just be that you peruse local garage sales and take a walk around the entire collection of houses to see what’s on offer. Little efforts like that can be a tremendous use of your time, for obvious reasons.
Explore Your Town
Don’t be afraid to explore your town. Just getting up and going for a walk, looking around certain streets that you may not have explored before, and refining the mental map of your local area can work wonders for obvious reasons. With this effort, you may even find a quicker shortcut to work, or support a local business you had no idea was there. What’s more is that you’ll be walking around and charting your way, as exploring is a great form of exercise.
With this advice, you’re sure to get natural exercise without having to focus on a singular activity for working out.