Sports Finals

For a fact, there’s more than one way to gain a little fitness these days, though just getting someone up off the couch and exercising a little can be a colossal achievement. This is because we as a society have grown fascinated with the videogame, the Internet and computers and high-fat fast foods. But there’s hope, because just a little bit of physical activity can make a world of difference.

Consider that fancy black sport watch hanging from the wrist. It’s nice, in fact, and looks like it could be on the wrist of a Navy SEAL, but do we even use a 10th of its potential? Of course not, most would say, so consider setting up a stopwatch or countdown function (or lap function on some of the fancier ones) and getting in two or three minutes of activity several times a day.

And this is the most underappreciated aspect of physical activity, it seems; because we don’t really need to do a lot of it to gain some fitness. This is important to realize because the chances are high that most of us probably don’t have all that much time to do things like go to the gym and stand around with other sweaty, bulging-muscled guys, now do we? Gardening is more our style.

And in this vein, it might be a good idea to go out to the garage and look around for those lawn garden tools that once were going to be used to plant a beautiful garden in the backyard. Grab them and get to work digging, in other words, even if you have to borrow a neighbor’s backyard — if they’re insane enough to let you do so — and just start by digging a few rows. Your neighbor will love you.

Now, if the thought of gardening or digging holes in the ground in order to build up a sweat just isn’t making it happen, consider how much fun you used to have standing in front of a mirror and pretending you were a great rock star. You might have an old Epiphone electric guitar your kid never really learn to play, which is good enough to get in front of the mirror and begin wailing away.

And not only is all of that arm waving and jumping up and down (but no smashing of the furniture or any other musical gear, please) a great deal of fun, it can also be a way to burn a few calories in the process. Think back to all those rock ‘n roll magazines with photos of sweaty lead guitarists or drummers during a rock concert and imagine building some sweat by playing around with a guitar.

The most important thing to keep in mind about gaining a little fitness in the home is that just about any activity can be used to encourage it. If you don’t want to garden, don’t. If you don’t want to play guitar or act like some sort of air musician, don’t. Just pick something, anything, and try to do a few minutes a day, spread throughout the day, and watch the fitness grow.

Tags: fitness, fitness experts, physical activity