How to incorporate routine cardio into your daily life

Whether you’re already quite active, moderately active, or not as active as you’d like to be, there’s always ways you can fit in more cardio into your routine – some which require a reasonable amount of effort, others where virtually no effort is needed at all.

We all live busy lives and so sometimes it can be quite difficult to fit in time to go for a run or have a workout, and let’s face it, sometimes we’re just a bit too tired and demotivated to do anything other than rest after or before work…so let’s look at 6 things you do during your working day to add more cardio to your routine:

Cycle to work

On average you can burn around 300 calories from moderate cycling. Other than getting a great bit of cardio from this, cycling will also help with lower body toning.

Drive a particular distance from your work then walk the rest

This can also be done for pretty much anywhere you drive to, whether that’s driving to the shop, the cinema or anywhere else. Try to see if you can park a bit further away and walk the rest.

If taking public transport, jump off a few stops away from work and walk the rest

Similar to the above, rather than getting off at the stop outside of your workplace, get off a few stops away and take a scenic route. The cool thing about this is you may even discover parts of your area you never would’ve seen before!

Lunchtime/breaktime walks – get some fresh air during your breaks.

Going for a walk with colleagues and friends (or just yourself) can really break up the day nicely and give you a clearer mind. As you have a longer lunchbreak, you could even fit in a light jog before eating to really work up an appetite.

Standing at your desk instead of sitting

Standing rather than sitting can burn around 50 calories an hour, which isn’t much, but if you were to stand for 3 hours a day, for 5 days a week, you’re looking at 750 calories burnt!

It takes minimal effort to stand at different times during your work day, and on top of that you’re much more likely to stay awake at your desk (we’ve all had those days where we’ve almost fallen asleep at our laptops!) and you can also stretch your body a bit.

Lower back and glute stiffness tends to be the result of sitting at our desks for too long.

Daily/weekly/monthly Step challenges

Challenge yourself and make things competitive! Whether you have a smartwatch or a smartphone, you can track your steps and arrange competitions with colleagues and friends on who can do the most steps in a day, week or month.

Give yourself an incentive to really get your steps up!

These are just a few ways you can fit cardio and activity into your routine, but there’s plenty more activities you can do depending on your creativity. Start from today and see what you can start incorporating into your daily routine!

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