40 Ways to Add More Movement to Your Life

Opportunistic Exercise

Whether you are feeling stuck and unmotivated with your fitness routine, or are struggling with being active at all, one of the things we recommend at Green Mountain is to add movement to your life that doesn’t seem like “exercise.” I like to call it opportunistic exercise.

Opportunistic exercise is adding movement to your everyday activities, or looking at how you can do everyday activities differently to make them more active. It’s all part of becoming an intrinsic exerciser, which strengthens your chances of staying with it for the long-haul.

Some Movement Is Better Than Nothing

Read Related Article: Learning to Love Physical Activity

We also like to remind our participants that something is better than nothing to get them out of the all-or-nothing mindset, which diminishes the chances of sticking with an exercise routine.

Start by thinking about where you are everyday – work, home, and with friends and family – and how you can add a little “something” to each.

Ways to Add More Movement

1. Rake leaves, mow the lawn and wash your own windows
2. Chop and stack wood
3. Take the dog for a walk or play catch, instead of letting him/her out in the backyard
4. Plant and tend a garden
5. Paint a room in your house a fun color
6. Dance-Clean: Put on some tunes and dance like no one’s watching while you clean
7. Get off the bus or subway at the stop before your stop
8. Do bicep curls with your grocery bags
9. Add a habit to another habit, e.g. doing squats while brushing your teeth
10. Wash & wax your car (instead of taking it through the car wash)
11. Shovel your own sidewalk (bonus points: shovel your neighbor’s too!)
12. Bike or walk an errand, e.g. delivering a letter to the post office
13. Don’t send someone else to get something upstairs, do it yourself
14. Skip the drive-through for coffee; go inside and order
15. Walk or bike to work once a week
16. Schedule walking meetings with colleagues
17. Take a stroll around the office once a day – you also get to visit with everyone
18. Connect your computer to a printer further away
19. Skip the elevator, take the stairs
20. Sit on an exercise ball at your desk or try a standing desk
21. Walk for half of your lunch break
22. Stretch every time you use the bathroom
23. Take phone calls standing up
24. Walk to a colleague’s office instead of e-mailing or calling
25. Do wall push-ups or tricep dips during conference calls
26. Pack a picnic and hit the park instead of going to a restaurant
27. Go to a concert where you will dance, dance, dance
28. Do your Green Mountain stretches while you watch TV
29. Avoid online shopping and hit the stores
30. Look for volunteer opportunities that are active, e.g. helping clean a local park
31. Try mini-golf or the batting cages instead of video games
32. Go apple picking or berry picking
33. Keep a pair of sneakers in your car in case the opportunity to walk arises
34. Park at the end opposite your destination at the mall
35. Fire up an audio book so you can walk while you “read”
36. Do toe raises and calf raises while standing in line
37. Meet a friend for coffee and walk while you catch up
38. Go to a playground with your family and actually play on the monkey bars, swings and ladders
39. Opt for dinner and dancing instead of dinner and a movie
40. Get involved in a life long recreational activity like archery, camping, volleyball, tennis or golf

Finding something to do for yourself, even it if it as small as getting up and stretching every hour, is a fantastic way to reboot your energy level, keep you focused and not stay sitting.

Have you found a way to add more movement to your life by switching up your routine? How?