7 Tips to Stay Active

By Kerri Whatley and the TLS Team

People always complain and say that they don’t really enjoy exercising, nor do they have the time or money to invest in gym memberships or workout videos. This is troubling because so many people don’t realize that staying physically active can help improve your life.

As some of us already know staying physically inactive has it ramifications, such as the possibility of developing chronic diseases.  The CDC has reported that over 70% of the deaths in the US are form chronic diseases. Unfortunately one out of ten Americans will have to deal with a limiting physical factor triggered by these diseases and ultimately lose out on a better quality of life.

However, the good news is that physical activity is a great prevention method that people can use to lower their risk of developing chronic disease, improve their quality of life, as well as staying active for many years to come.
There are several hundred ways to stay active but I have taken seven that have stuck out to me, hopefully they can help you too.

1.)    Be Consistent: Improvement takes time, on average it takes around 4-6 weeks before you and everyone around you can tell that your making great changes to your life. Staying consistent with your activities and workout, rather than being sporadic will help yield faster results.

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If sticking to a plan isn’t your strong suit, try taking a class

2.)    Keep Records: while this may seem tedious writing down your day to day work outs will help keep you consistent and on track, it is also a way to hold yourself accountable for your progress or lack thereof.
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Plan and log your workouts- TLS Mobile and tlsSlim.com both have tracking tools!

3.)    Know you Limits: How many times have you started a new exercise plan and immediately became frustrated because you couldn’t accomplish it. Be sure to work within your current fitness level and make goals to work your way to the harder things.
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4.)    Break It Up a Little: These days everyone has very busy lives start out with 10 minutes in the morning 10 in the afternoon or around lunch time and 10 in the evening. Not only does this take less time all at once, it also helps you not burn out as quickly.

5.)    Cross Train: People become bored with their workouts very easily and therefor stop doing them all together. Try adding in different types of exercises on different parts of the body that way you don’t become as bored and also help refrain from injuries due to repetitive muscle strains.

6.)    Include More Day to Day Movement: Anything from taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work to parking a little farther away when you’re out running errands. Every little thing helps when you’re battling to stay active.
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Don’t let this be you.

7.)    Enjoy it: Finally you have to have fun in whatever you do or you will not want to continue doing it. Choose something that puts a smile on your face and encourages you to move at minimum 20 minutes, 3 days per week minimum.

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Playing outside: Not just for kids anymore. Gather up your friends and play a friendly match!

Setting disease prevention aside, physical activity helps you feel better and will benefit you physically and emotionally. I hope that these 7 tips will help you invest in yourself to get moving. Make sure you like what you’re doing, stay with it and finally start the Movement!