I need to get out of my desk chair more, but lately I’ve been trying to walk my neighborhood since the weather’s nice. What kinds of things do you do to stay active? I’d love some suggestions for good stretches and simple/effective exercises. Thanks!
I jiggle my mouse every 5 minutes.
Teams is such a snitch…
Currently unemployed, so I can’t exactly remember, but I used to launch a call with just myself. By default, that will change your status to “in a call”, but I believe you can override it and set it to available. Alternatively, a mouse jiggler is around $20.
Open notepad, put an apple on the space bar.
Works with other things besides apples as well.
Yes. My mouse.
I refuse to drive or take any form of public transport, unless I am going to be traveling far.
I walk or bike everywhere I go. I get to where I am going and I get exercise along the way. I barely think about it anymore, it has just become normal to me.
I alternate between spin bike and weights 6 days/week throughout the year, but with the weather getting nicer, I’m getting back out on my road bike on weekends and playing tennis with some friends after work. It helps to live in a city with a nice park!
Gave up on gym membership already. Switched to home workouts (check darebee website and youtube) I feel way better with this compared to the gym. You cant have noodle arms also, so get reasonable dumbbells to grow your arm muscles (they are effective and easy to store also)
It s 40min at most daily from home workouts so you need less mental energy to get to it (compared to: prepare backpack, go to gym, interact with people, go back). I am on the Avatar Upgrade program.
I add early morning walks and occasional hikes to spice things up.
Darebee looks interesting thank you.
My pleasure! These people have been doing volunteering work for more than 10 years and deserve a lot of love. They had some meal plans also. They are great people and they need a lot of support.
Juggling. It’s not too intensive or anything but does keep me somewhat active.
I suggest everyone learn to juggle! It’s not TOO hard once you get over the hump and everything clicks. I also find it somewhat meditative.
I took up ice hockey as an adult.
If you try hard, it’s an insanely good workout.
I’ve been threatening to do this for years. Irregular hours have meant that I’ve skipped this idea, and rugby. I guess I’d love to go just for the workout and for the extra circle of friends, but I don’t want to be wasting folks time when I’m not going to be able to make games consistently.
I enjoyed playing roller hockey when I was younger and I know getting the skates back on after thirty years will be a challenge, maybe I’ll give this a go again.
Assuming you work from home the real answer is that you just get up every few minutes and move. It doesn’t matter what. Some squats, pullups, pushups. Even a few hundred steps works wonders.
The key is to make the barrier to entry as low as possible. Then you actually do it more often.
Besides that, find a sport you think would be fun. Just try a bunch of trial lessons or join some people you know.
Going to the gym is so boring for me. I ended up finding an activity that I enjoy doing that also happens to be good exercise and started kickboxing about 9 months ago. The people there are very friendly and they text me if I don’t show up for a while, so there’s more accountability that I would typically have.
Similar. I started rock climbing about a decade ago. It’s fun, you make friends, learn new skills, and get exercise.
Rock climbing seems pretty sweet, I think I could get into after I lose maybe 60 lbs or more lol
Check out the local gym anyway- you’d be surprised how many people are there packing a bit of extra weight. There’s also a high likelihood they’ll have some basic gym equipment, so you get a bit of a two-for-one deal in that regard. It’s also way easier to meet and chat with people than your typical gym.
Ngl, climbing becomes a lot easier if you are lighter. But also, there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying it at a heavier weight - you just climb routes with an easier numeric grade. And there are various climbing disciplines that are less disadvantageous to heavier climbers, like ice climbing or mountaineering. If you want to take a really traditional approach, you could enter climbing by way of hiking and backpacking, which are also a lot of fun and have a decent amount of skill overlap.
Also, I have no science to back this up, but I just intuit that when you consistently do activities like hiking, running, and climbing where lower body weight is advantageous, your brain notices and predisposes you to lose weight.
So give it a shot!
Climbing! I’ve never been fond of weightlifting, but lifting myself up on the wall is way more fun! It’s incredibly physical, and there’s an equally important mental problem solving aspect to it. Most cities have a climbing gym these days and it’s a lot more approachable than most people think. Bouldering especially only needs shoes and maybe a chalk bag. Just short but hard climbs that are usually only a few challenging moves. No ropes or harnesses, just big squishy mats to land on. It can also be pretty social with most gyms having a good community, and if you really take to it there’s always room to grow into actual outdoor rock climbing.
Biking for commuting and errands is great as others have mentioned.
Running too. Just needs shoes and some comfy clothes. Even starting at a one km run doesn’t seem like much, but you’ll be surprised how much further you can go if you stick with it.
I got a puppy. I’ve spent about 30 minutes on my computer since December. But I did also get a Steam Deck.
I was fortunate enough to get invited to a ballroom dancing class in high school and fell in love with it. It’s exercise and a social experience all in one fairly affordable package. Where I live an hour long group class is $10 a head. I wouldn’t do private lessons for these purposes. And if you like it, there are so many subcultures! There are entire groups dedicated to certain dances like West Coast swing and Argentine tango. Regular social dances on the weekends in addition to classes. YMMV based on where you live, but dancing with the stars has brought ballroom into the mainstream and there are quality studios in most decent sized US cities as far as I know.
Love ballroom dancing, and especially east coast swing is my jam. Unfortunately no regular social dances in my area but I go when there’s one available. It’s really fun and playful, great way to meet new people and good exercise. Equipment cost is basically a pair of shoes. I joke about dressing up in a dress and heels for my workouts.
I have an active job. I still need to add some sort of exercise to my routine.
During lunch at work, I find I usually eat pretty quick and under the required amount of time for my break so after, I just start running. It gives a nice break from staring at the screen and keeps me healthier.
I do yoga multiple times a week, use a rowing machine twice a week, and walk/hike my dogs.
Yoga is the best especially if you are sitting all day. And it’s a nice “third space” where you see the same people every class and make weak links with them that aren’t at home or at work.
Being active is so important to your health. Take where you’re at and just build on it. One thing I always tell myself is that things won’t get better if I don’t act on it. Yeah, I want to loose 10 lbs so I’ll start exercising and eating less. Tomorrow. Nope, it’s got to start now. And give yourself some grace. Changing habits is hard and you will backslide. Don’t beat yourself up, just awknowledge the slip and say you’ll try to do better.
