Simple ways to be more active

Part of living a healthy lifestyle is staying physically active. Doing so keeps your muscles moving and prevents you from losing muscle mass. If you're wanting to become more physically active, try the helpful tips below. They're all going to help you burn calories and benefit your healthy eating.

First, consider walking. Walking can be done on an indoor (or outdoor) track. People walk around their neighborhoods, parks and may even walk uphill on a treadmill. It's one of the best low-impact exercises to start with when starting an exercise plan. All that is needed is exercise clothes and excellent walking shoes. Benefits of walking include stronger bones and joints, toned muscles, a stronger immune system and a healthier heart. It also aids in reduction of stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and bowel cancer.

Dancing is also a way to stay physically active. It has been shown that dancing helps to increase memory and make our body more flexible. With the release of endorphins (the happy hormone), it has been found that dancing helps to fight depression and boost a person's mood. It also increases a person's balance and coordination. In addition, it's also a great way to meet friends and get out more often.

It's also a good idea to keep up with yard work. Doing the raking, mowing and shoveling yourself is a great way to burn calories. Make some time each week to add outdoor chores to your fitness. Work in the garden, for instance, and put every muscle to use. If we don't use our muscles we use them over time. Those leaf bags can be heavy. Be sure to do the lifting yourself if you're able, but don't throw your back out. If it's too heavy, make sure to get help.

In addition, never spend your weekends indoors. Get away from the sofa and go to a park. Explore a state or national park, hiking or biking its trails. Getting fresh air is necessary to help us relax and destress. Plan to be outside at least two hours. You might take a picnic lunch, for instance, and then go explore the waterfalls within the park. Always remember to use safety first when peaks and hikes get dangerously narrow. It's not a good idea to go on the trails when it's rainy or slick.

Finally, avoid elevators. Taking stairs is beneficial to your health. Over time, it's going to help you maintain a healthy body weight. It burns around 8-11 calories per minute. If you walked two fights of stairs each day for a year, you would be six pounds lighter by the year's end. It has also been shown that climbing stairs improves the good cholesterol within our body. It also maintains healthy bones, muscles and joints. Within twenty minutes of walking stairs, an average of 350 calories are burned; it rises to 1050 after an hour.

Physical activity is crucial if we want to live a healthy lifestyle. All these activities are a fantastic jumpstart to your fitness. Spice up your exercise by trying a different activity each day. This is going to keep your routine fresh and work different muscle groups. In addition to healthy eating, physical activity is going to long, healthy life.

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