Easy ways to move more | Active Canterbury

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Easy ways to move more

With our busy lifestyles, it can be hard to do as much as we should. Work and family commitments can get in the way.

Regular activity bites make a big difference

The good news is you don’t have to do it all at once. You can ‘snack’ on exercise. Maybe you can’t fit in half hour all at once, but three lots of 10 minutes – that’s not so much, is it?

Exercising doesn’t have to mean expensive gym membership and treadmills. Here are some ways you can add some more activity into your life:

Take the stairs instead of the lift.
Walk to the shops rather than drive.
Walk the dog.
Dance to some music – enthusiastically!
Doing housework such as washing windows or floors, or vacuuming.
Playing or cycling with the kids.
Get off the bus a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way.
Wash your car by hand.
Do some energetic gardening.

You can also use exercise as a stress management technique. Walk to clear your head and help you make decisions about work and home.

Find out more about recommended levels and types of physical activity (Ministry of Health).

Here are a couple of fact sheets with some simple ideas to get active daily:

13 easy ways to build more activity into your day [185KB PDF].
51 ways to add more movement to your workday [311KB PDF].

Find out tips for getting active from the Ministry of Health - ideas on how to add physical activity to your day.

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