Integrate Sports & Exercise Into Your Daily Routine.
August 18, 2016 by Staff
Filed under Health, News, Sports, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) We all know how important exercise is if you want to lead healthy lifestyle. Of course, there is a big difference between knowing it, and practising it. If you are like most people, you probably find that you do not get nearly as much exercise as you probably should. Even for those who have a serious interest in sports, it can be tough to work it into your life. The problem, for many people, is that their lives are just not set up for sports and exercise. Therefore, no matter how hard they try, they cannot fit it in as they would like to. If you are keen to make a change regarding this, then this article will help you. In this article, we will look at some key ways that anyone can start to work exercise into their daily routine. Even if you start small, and just follow one or two of the following pieces of advice, that will be beneficial. It is better than doing nothing, anyway. Let’s take a look at just how easy it can be to integrate sports and exercise into your daily routine, starting today.
Make The Most Of The Morning
Most people tend to sleepwalk their way through the morning. This is all too easily done. It is partly the fault of the way that we live our lives today. However, if you are not getting much out of the morning, then you are wasting a surprising amount of time. If you can manage to wake up just a little earlier, you will shortly be amazed at what a difference it can make. This should be the first thing you try if you are looking for a way to make exercise a bigger part of your life. If you can make the most of your mornings, you will already have made a huge difference to your life. So let’s see how you can achieve this particular goal.
It begins with ensuring that you are getting a decent amount of sleep. If you are not, then it is unlikely that you will be able to wake up nice and early. To that end, do everything you can to ensure that you are sleeping properly. That way, you are much more likely to 
wake up earlier feeling refreshed. Once that is the case, you can then work on making the most of the morning. A great habit to get into is to go for a jog first thing after waking. The first couple of times, you might want to do anything but. However, if you push yourself, you will soon find yourself really enjoying this early morning moment alone. All you need is fifteen to twenty minutes of running time. It doesn’t have to be particularly strenuous. The main thing is that you do it.
If you don’t want to go that far in the morning, then why not carry out some exercises at home instead? This could be a matter of performing some basic strength exercises, for example. As long as you are doing something upon waking, you are taking huge steps. You are making exercise a priority in your day, and that is the biggest step you need to take.
Basic Exercises To Carry Out At Work
There are all sorts of jobs, of course, and this will partly depend on what you do for a living. If you are stuck behind a desk all day, then you probably feel that you don’t have much opportunity for exercise. However, nothing could be further from the truth. There are, in fact, plenty of exercises which you can carry out at work. Many of them can even be done successfully without leaving your desk. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some of the most effective – and most subtle – exercises you can do at work.
One great exercise you can do sitting down is to train the gluteal muscles. It is quite a simple exercise, too. All you do is clench the gluteal muscles for thirty seconds, and release. Repeat this as many times as you are able to. This simple and straightforward exercise is surprisingly powerful. Not only does it lead to tight buttocks, but you will be surprised at the effect it has on the leg muscles, too. Beyond that, if you think you need to be getting more exercise at work, then simply do your best to move around more. Even small changes like this make a big difference over time. It could be a simple matter of walking to someone’s desk instead of emailing them, for example. Do this enough and you will feel a lot more active on the whole.
Take It Home With You
A lot of people find themselves keeping exercise separate from their home life. Whether or not this is done on purpose, it can be perfectly understandable. However, there are also some serious benefits to carrying out some exercise at home. If you are a keen sports fan, then why not try to find a way to play your favourite sport at home? This could be as simple as installing a little league pitch in your backyard and covering the field when it’s not in use. That way, you can get your exercise in, but you can still use the yard for other purposes. The great thing about this particular solution is that you can get other people involved too. You could get your family to join you in a game, or invite some friends round.
If you don’t want to go that far, then it could just be a matter of throwing a ball around. Maybe you could set up a temporary basketball hoop as a way of blowing off some steam? Whatever you do, this is a vital step in integrating sports and exercise into your daily routine. When you bring it home with you, you are essentially telling yourself that exercise is a priority. And once you start doing that, it means that you will find yourself doing it more and more.
Get Others Involved
One of the most common hurdles when people try to exercise more is that they lose motivation. It happens all too often. For the first week, you are excited to be making positive changes to your life. And then before you know it, you have all but given up and gone back to your old ways. That’s why it is really important to do everything you can to keep the motivation up. Possibly the most effective and cheapest way to do this is to get other people involved. When you include friends and family, it makes a huge difference to how motivated you feel about the whole project. This can be especially powerful if you do it with a friend whom you can be competitive with. Competition can be a great driving force behind pretty much anything. If you partner up, you will probably find yourself achieving greater things than ever before.
If this sounds tempting to you, then think about asking a friend to join you in your exercise, even if it is only once a week. Alternatively, set up a local sports game. This is a profound way to get some exercise while also drawing people in the local community together. You might just be surprised at what a huge difference this can make.
Keep A Log
The importance of keeping a log of your efforts really can’t be overstated. There are many benefits to this. Possibly the most important is that it acts as a positive encouragement. When you rely on memory, it can be extremely difficult to appreciate how far you have come. However, with a log, you have it there in black and white. If you are someone who struggles with staying motivated, this could be your ultimate solution.
There is another main benefit to keeping a log. If you are religious about writing in your exercise diary, it means that you are making more of a routine of it. That in itself goes a long way towards encouraging you to keep going. What’s more, keeping a record means that you know you are going in the right direction. If you ever feel like you are lagging behind, you can use your exercise diary to give you that little boost.
Changing Your Attitude
Attitude is everything in life. No matter what you are doing, what you are trying to achieve, the right attitude makes all the difference. When it comes to exercise and sports, you need to have a positive attitude. This is hard to fake if you don’t have it, so you should always look for reasons to be positive. Before you know it, it will become a habit. And that is the most powerful way of ensuring that you bring about the necessary changes in your life. A positive mindset keeps you going when things get really tough. Do your best, therefore, to work on your attitude. Always assume the best of any situation, and soon enough you will notice many changes in your life. Integrating exercise into your life is made much easier with a positive attitude.
Staff Writer; Jason Burke