By Simple, effective and easy your lifestyle
It’s very hard for many people to get a workout in.
Life seems to get in the way most days, and as the disappointment mounts, so do the feelings of guilt.
If you are overweight or obese, it may be overwhelming to join a gym.
If you lack the skills to navigate the gym, that can become a big red flag in an attempt to change your shape.
I completely understand this because we all start somewhere -and it can be quite intimidating being inside a gym setting, exposing your vulnerability to others.
That initial feeling of being uncomfortable is hard to shake — but it does happen eventually.
Some people don’t want to join the gym.
Work, kids, school pick up and drop off get in the way, and you can’t do much about this — or can you?
I’m here to give you an idea backed by research that will give you marvellous results as if you were going to the gym.
We all have to get to work once in a while (well, we’re supposed to go in a couple of times a week), and I don’t know about you, but I have to walk a lot and commute a bit of distance.
But that’s not bad because I get in some extra movement which helps me surpass my step goals.
But, you can do the same thing as well! Why not use your commute to work as a form of exercise?
Let me show you how effective it is
Based on the researchers’ analysis of these participants, a study involved 130 overweight people who weren’t too active or muscular.
They were then divided into two groups.
One had to do some physical exercise five times per week, one at high intensity, and the other at moderate intensity.
The last group didn’t make any changes, so they were the so-called ‘control group’ to reference their results.
The groups who cycled were physically active during leisure time and burned the same amount of calories weekly during these activities.
The only changes were the intensity and form of these activities.
Researchers checked all participants to ensure they met the requirements of the physical activities.
After the six months, all participants lost fat mass, apart from the control group (of course!).
So it’s no surprise that the HIIT group lost 4.5kg of fat mass, followed by 2.6kg for the moderate leisurely group, then 4.2kg for the group who had to ride to and from work.
How close was the HIIT group to the riding to and from work group?
Either would be sufficient to lose weight and sustain fitness over time.
But, the HIIT group trained intently for shorter durations. Therefore, travelling to and from work would entail further distances than your average HIIIT efforts.
Key take away
The question is, do you have time for something like HIIT every week?
Would you prefer to ride to and from work instead?
The choices of the matter are ultimately your own — and will depend on lifestyle factors. Time is of the essence here, so whatever you pick must be suitable.
But in saying that, doing some form of exercise is better than doing nothing.
Of course, from a statistical point of view, HIIT is better, but at least riding to and from work takes a small pocket of leisure time (and time you may have spent eating or watching mindless TV).
So, now you have an idea of what you can do and what will be more efficient in your life and better use of the time allocated to leisure or personal time.
Either option, you should always try to exercise daily — even if it doesn’t include HIIT or bike riding.
Who says you can’t walk or go for small jogs?
The choice is ultimately yours. However, I hope this helps you ease into exercise more effectively.
I’m on Youtube! Please help grow awareness of health, lifestyle and well-being holistically, and follow my YouTube channel here.
Medium — Please sign up via my link if you want to read more articles like this or start writing your writing journey. I’d love to see you on the other side.
Sign up here for your medium subscription.
I get a portion of your monthly fee at no extra cost to you, and it will go a long way in supporting me as a writer.
As a gift, please download this as a thank you.