Fitness doesn’t have to come at the expense of sacrificing your free time. There are a few things you can do to increase your overall health with only a minimum impact on your free and personal time. The easiest thing to do is to take advantage of wasted time. I don’t know about you, but I find myself sitting watching television far too often. Instead of sitting around watching during commercials, get up and do some exercises during this downtime. A few jumping jacks, sit ups, or even running in place during commercials will help increase your heart rate without cutting into your schedule.

Lunchtime is another great resource. If you get an hour for lunch at your job, it is doubtful that you utilize the entire time eating. Finish your lunch and then walk around the block. This is a trick I have done for quite some time. Not only does this give me a chance to digest my food before cramming dessert down my gullet, it works up my blood flow and wakes me up so I am ready to go when I get back to my cubicle.

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is another option. I used to work on the 18th floor of an office building—taking the stairs was sometimes faster than taking the elevator when it was crowded with people getting off at every floor! Plus, you don’t feel quite so accomplished riding in an elevator for five minutes as you do when you power up that last set of stairs. Timing yourself going up the stairs can be fun too. Trying to beat your best time going up the stairwell can be a very rewarding experience.