How can I burn extra calories during the day?

April 12th, 2015

We all have small bits of time waiting in line, standing in an elevator, being put on hold during a telephone call, waiting for your files to download from the internet, at the airport gate waiting for your flight, or watching commercials on TV.  These are otherwise wasted minutes unless you can turn them into mini workouts.  When I’m in an elevator alone, I do squats (bending the knees and going down and back up).  While it may seem like this wouldn’t amount to much, think about how many times you are “waiting” and the calories you burn can actually be significant.  Trust me, the calories can add up very quickly!  Be creative.  Here are some types of things you can do while waiting.

• At the grocery checkout line, do crunches with your shopping basket, handbag, or canned foods.  (lift them up and slowly lower your arm back down)
• Stretch with both arms above your head and pretend you’re arms are being pulled up to the ceiling, lengthen your spine.
• Do lunges while you are on hold during a phone call.  Put the call on speaker phone and each time the annoying recorded message or jingle repeats means you have to do another lunge.
• Turn commuting into a mini workout.  If you have an extra 5 minutes getting to work, take a different route, walk around the block, take the stairs to your office, or get off one subway train station earlier and walk the rest of the way.
• While surfing on the internet, lift your feet from the floor until your legs are horizontal.  This is a “leg lift”.  Repeat each time your computer takes time to download content from the internet.
• Walk brisk laps around the airport terminal.  This is a great exercise especially when your flight is delayed (which is quite often these days!) or you’re waiting for your connecting flight.  You will burn extra calories if you are carrying luggage.  I always wear sneakers whenever I go to the airport for this reason.
• Clean your house.  Cleaning can be a very vigorous exercise.  Scrubbing a bathtub, sweeping the floor, wiping down tables, and cleaning the windows are great ways to burn calories and your house will look beautiful.