Be Creative!
The most common roadblock for Northwest employees seems to be lack of time – especially lack of a full 30 minutes to one hour – for getting in a dedicated workout. Be creative with the ways you squeeze in exercise.
Consider breaking up your movement throughout the day.
Keep in mind you don't have to be in workout clothes and you don't necessarily need to "break a sweat," especially at first, while we are simply challenging ourselves to "get moving." Getting into the habit of movement is our first goal and often the hardest.
There are lots of health benefits to an increased heart rate within aerobic parameters and breaking a sweat, but we are working toward that right now.
Easy to Implement Ideas:
Additional ideas to break-up your exercise into smaller increments throughout the day:
Walk to work if you live within a comfortable walking distance.
Park further from the building if you drive to work.
Get up from your desk and walk to the restroom and water fountain every hour.
Consider a 10-15 minute walk and some light stretching at lunch.
Walk your driveway several times in the morning upon waking, when you get home from work, and then again after dinner. This alone could get in almost a mile of walking, depending of the length of your driveway and how many "laps" you make.
Keep hand weights easily accessible at home; do 10-12 reps of several different lifts or exercises (e.g. bicep curls, tricep-kickbacks, overhead presses) in the morning and in the evening. "Lifting weights" can be converted to steps in the MoveSpring App.
Interval Training:
Consider different ways to use "interval training" to increase your fitness. Intervals (both time and intensity) are personal to you, your program, and your health and fitness goals. As we progress through the series of summer challenges, we encourage "interval training" to help improve fitness and, by extension, better our 5k times.
Here are a couple ways to implement interval training:
Use time (e.g. 30 seconds or one minute), alternating between speed walking (or jogging/running/sprinting, depending upon your fitness level) and walking (or jogging slower/lower intensity).
Use landmarks (e.g., city blocks, driveways, parked cars, trees), alternating between your choice of high intensity versus lower intensity each time you get to the end of a block, when you get to another driveway, etc.
Use music (if you are listening to a playlist during your exercise time). This will likely create longer intervals; consider alternating high/low intensity mid-song or with the change of songs. Also, changing the length of your intervals (30 seconds one day versus three minutes another day) is an additional variation and useful way to vary your routine and increase your fitness level.
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