Please contact us with your feedback using the button below. To see where your feedback will go, visit the: Contact Healthy State page. Contact Healthy State

MSU Human Resources >> Healthystate >> Straight from the Spartans’ Mouths . . .Top Ten Exercise Tips

Straight from the Spartans’ Mouths . . .Top Ten Exercise Tips

More than 280 MSU faculty, staff and retirees participated in the first Healthy State weekly poll. We asked for your tips on how you manage to work exercise in to your busy lives . . .and you delivered! Out of the hundreds of tips we received, the following “Top Ten” represent those themes that were most frequently submitted:

  1. Schedule It Like You Mean It! Many Spartans who successfully maintain exercise programs suggest putting exercise “meetings” on your calendar and treating them as you would any other important appointment. You wouldn’t pull a no-showgym schedule for your annual performance review at work or duck out on your 8-year-old’s birthday party would you? Don’t cancel out on yourself when it comes to your health! Some Spartans said it works best for them to book a consistent daily exercise time for a year out so they know to schedule other commitments around exercise. Others recommended reviewing the calendar once a week and finding a hole in each day to book some time to exercise.

  2. Target TV Time! Many folks cited lack of time as the biggest barrier they face to exercise. Yet, many studies have shown that most of us spend quite a few hours in front of the TV each week. Many regular exercisers said they decided to sacrifice a couple of the programs they used to watch and made that exercise time instead. But others told us exercise and TV can live in harmony – and you can even use your favorite programs to ensure you get regular exercise! Some of the ideas submitted included: Plant an exercise bike or treadmill in front of the TV and exercise while you watch. Do sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, weight lifting and running in place during the commercials (instead of making that run to the fridge!) Do a set of leg lifts or jumping jacks every time your team scores during the game. Quite a few Spartans are also enjoying using Wii and Wii Fit systems with their TVs to get fit with virtual tennis, boxing, ski-jumping, yoga, hoola-hooping and more. However you decide to do it – try squeezing some new moves into your TV time.

  3. Lose the Car Keys! Lots of Spartans say they rack up exercise time by making an effort to walk or bike instead of drive whenever possible. Going out to lunch? Walk to somewhere nearby and back! Have a meeting across campus? Keep your parking space and your good health by getting there on foot. Live too far away to bike to work? Try parking on the opposite side of campus from where you work and bike or walk the rest of the way.

  4. Work toward a specific goal! Sign up for a marathon in six months and give yourself a reason to train each day. Or decide to take a virtual walk to the White House or Florida or Vegas. Figure out how many miles it would take you to get where you want to go and then track your progress on a map as you walk each day. This can be especially fun for families that like to walk together. Optional tip – plan a real trip as a reward once the virtual one has been achieved. Different people are motivated by different goals – pick one that works for you and keep at it until you get there.

  5. Buddy up! Virtually anything is more fun with friends along. buddy up for exercise Many of our poll respondents said they have an exercise partner or belong to an exercise group made up of coworkers or family members. One respondent belongs to a lunch time walking club with office mates that walks over 60 miles a month together during breaks and lunch time. Not only does having exercise partners make it more fun, but it also adds accountability. It’s harder to skip that daily walk when four co-workers in tennis shoes are standing in your doorway staring at you. (Don’t forget to thank them later!)

  6. Be Creative! Lots of you sneak exercise into your daily routine by finding ways to add more motion or activity to daily tasks you already do. Examples: Jog in place while brushing your teeth. Pace while reading memos. Stand up while on the phone. Do seated leg lifts while working on the computer. Get off the bus a stop early or take the farthest parking spot from the building. The options are practically endless . . . find a way to add a little extra movement to everything you do.

  7. Join the Stair Climbers! Who needs access to a fancy stair-climbing machine when MSU buildings are chock full of the real thing? Stairs offer a good cardiovascular and strength work out, they’re free and odds are there’s a set (or six) of them very nearby – no matter where you work. A very large number of poll respondents told us they are making good use of these make-shift “stair-climbing machines”. Choose the stairs over the elevators and spend 20 minutes over lunch walking from the basement to the top floor of your building and back down several times.

  8. Pay Up and Plan Ahead! Though you can certainly find ways to exercise without a gym membership, some Spartans reported finding it very motivating to either join a gym or register and pay for exercise classes. Once you’ve bought and paid for it, it just seems wasteful not to use it. As an additional benefit, gyms and classes usually offer an array of different types of exercise to keep things interesting and help you find a routine you like.

  9. Baby Steps, Baby! Successful exercisers at MSU told us the hardest part is often getting started. Their advice? You don’t have to start big – just start. Do something. Do anything. But do it every day and do it NOW instead of LATER. Even if you can only motivate yourself to do something for five minutes, five minutes is better than no minutes. And once five minutes becomes a habit, stretching it to 10 then 20 and 30 are easier steps to take.

  10. Get a Dog (or two or three!) It’s a reality of the dog-owning lifestyle . . . Dog walking for exercise the furry little critters need to go outside and walk around several times a day to do their business. And if you fail to give them their daily walks, you get exercise of a different kind cleaning up your house. Quite a few Spartans say they keep in shape by walking their canine friends several times a day.
Back

 

Print this page