How To Incorporate Daily Exercise Into A Busy Schedule

Perhaps you think that real exercise takes long periods of time spent in an expensive gym. But recent studies have found that 5- to 10-minute intervals of exercise throughout the day, such as walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking an elevator, can provide substantial benefits.

Step 1

Write down every activity you engage in for one week and how much time each activity took. You will see how many minutes you spent being physically active. Create a list of ways that you can add more small segments of physical activity to your schedule.

Step 2

Add more short bursts of physical exercise within your workplace if you work outside of the home. Consider standing and pacing during phone calls. Park your car in the farthest corner of the parking lot and give yourself a longer walk to your office building.

Step 3

Review your activities at home. If you like to watch television, get up and walk around or do short exercises during commercials. If you are glued to your computer, set a wrist alarm to ring every hour, to remind you to get up and walk around for five minutes. Walk the dog for ten minutes longer than usual.

Step 4

Find a motivational program to reinforce your desire to stick with your new exercise program. One example of a good motivational program for this type of exercise was created by Dr. Robert Maurer, and described in his 2004 book,"One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way," in which he shows how just marching in place in front of her television for a few minutes each night helped one of his overscheduled, stressed patients lose weight and start on the road back to health.

Step 5

Wear a pedometer, a small device that records the number of steps walked. A pedometer can be worn on the wrist, belt or shoe, and is available from many sports stores. Record in your notebook or personal digital assistant the number of steps that you walk each day.