Do you want to make working out a part of your daily routine? Exercising has compounding benefits. Daily workouts can uplift your mood, reduce your risk of illness, and help you get better sleep.
In the long run, working out every day can help keep you mobile, agile, and moving. It can also help you live longer.
To receive the most benefits from working out each day, it’s beneficial to change up the exercises in your routine. Doing different types of exercises can also help to reduce your chance of injury.
Research has shown that it’s important to integrate all four main types of exercise into your routine.
The four types of exercises to include in your daily workouts.
1. Endurance: Endurance exercises increase your breathing and heart rate. To build endurance, do aerobic or cardio exercises, like jogging, swimming, dancing, cycling, climbing stairs, or HIIT.
2. Strength: Strength exercises build your muscles, strengthen bones, and manage weight. These exercises are workouts that incorporate resistance including lifting weights, push-ups, arm curls, or using a resistance band.
3. Balance: These exercises help prevent falls in the long run. Balance exercises include yoga, tai chi, and balancing on a single leg.
4. Flexibility: Flexibility exercises increase our mobility and reduce pain. Exercises to work out your flexibility include yoga and stretching.
You might be tempted to solely focus on your favorite type of exercise. Research has shown, however, that it’s important to receive the different benefits by integrating all four types into your routine.
Luckily, when you improve in one area (like endurance), the other areas (like strength exercises) can also become easier.
But most importantly, start with finding the motivation to work out every day!
Follow these tips to work out every day.
1. Start with two minutes: When it comes to creating a new daily habit, make it as easy as possible to get started. Transition into the routine of working out by starting with two minutes. After two minutes, do you want to continue? If so, keep going! If not, show up again tomorrow.
2. Make it easy to exercise: The ultimate mind hack to exercise is making it easy.
- The day before, decide the time and place you will work out.
- Prepare your workout clothes in a specific, open place each day.
- Prepare your food, shoes, and hydration the night before.
3. Attend a class or hire a personal trainer: If you struggle exercising by yourself, make it social! Sign up for fitness classes or hire a personal trainer. This will help motivate you to work out, as well as give you direction in your workout plan.
4. Choose consistency over intensity: If you choose an intense workout every day, you might burn out. To avoid losing your motivation, choose to be consistent with your exercise instead of sticking to a rigid “all or nothing” plan.
5. Write down the benefits: Studies show that permanent change comes from reminding yourself of benefits associated with committing to fitness goals. What benefits are you working towards? Maybe you will get more energy, lose weight, or feel more confident.
It can be a challenge to fit exercise into your already existing schedule. Don’t be afraid to start small as you integrate working out into your daily life. To start, commit to showing up for a short period of time each day.
Remember to give your muscles time to recover. Pushing yourself too hard during a workout can also be damaging. If you feel lethargic or tired, allow yourself to rest.
Exercise can greatly benefit your life. It’s all about finding the motivation to get started!
