An active lifestyle — how to stay fit without paying a gym membership

At the age of 39, with three kids, a demanding job, hobbies and side projects I’m in the best physical shape of my life. I’m much stronger, fitter and healthier not only than an average man of my age, but also than an average twenty years old guy. I can do twenty pulls up, run fifteen miles and perform gymnastics exercises on rings.

I used to be a regular guy until the last three years. I was certain that the only way to be fit is to train like an athlete. I’ve always had a busy schedule and could not afford to spend much time in a gym. I trained a couple of times a week, but I never got rid of my belly fat and never was satisfied with my body. I weighed fifteen pounds more than today and had twice as much body fat.

My transformation began when my mindset switched from doing sports to living sports. I understood that you don’t have to spend an hour three or four times a week at a gym or with your running group to feel and look well. I think gyms are a great way to put on muscles and get strong. But limiting your activity to short, concentrated sport slots is not only unnecessary, it might be bad for your health since the muscles you pump up create only an illusion of a healthy body.

The real key to a healthy body is an active lifestyle that makes all your muscles, tendons, and ligaments work together. It makes you flexible, develops real, functional strength and contributes to your overall health. You will not only look good, you will feel good and you will be able to control your body to the extent that you have never thought of. Remember that an active lifestyle is mandatory and sport is optional.

I’m not selling you miracles. I don’t have a magic pill that helps your muscles grow at night while you sleep. I don’t a garment that squeezes your fat away while you eat pizza. I don’t know a way to get fit without sweating. You will have to sweat and burn. The main advantage of an active lifestyle is that it can be incorporated in any schedule.

Of course, being healthy requires much more than just being active. Nutrition, rest, sleep, stress, and even visiting your doctor once in a while all contribute to your health. Make sure not to neglect them and not to focus entirely on your physical shape.

So what is an active lifestyle? How often do a you need to move to turn into an athlete? And the most burning question is how do you fit the movement into your already overloaded life. It was easy to be active when you were a kid, but now, with all the obligations you have?

According to wikipedia, active lifestyle is an integration of physical activity everyday life. For me, active lifestyle is being as active as our ancestors were. We have not evolved to sit at the desk for eight hours. Neither we have evolved to plough fields or stand at a factory. There are very recent changes in evolutionary terms.

We have evolved for diverse and constant movement. Our bodies are built to run, jump, climb, swim, throw stones and do all sorts of other crazy things. When we force our body to sit most of the time, it rebels. It becomes fat, clumsy and filled with diseases. If you want your body to perform as it was designed to, give it what it needs. You will be amazed with the results.

Regretfully or not, most of us cannot quit everything and get back in time to the hunter-gatherers’ lifestyle. We have families, jobs and social obligations and we cannot afford to spend hours running in a forest. The good news is that it is possible to become active even when your life is overloaded. All you need is to change your attitude and start paying attention to the ample opportunities you have to become fit. It may sound crazy, but it is absolutely possible to squeeze up to an hour of sportivic activity into any lifestyle.

The best motto that I can think of for the attitude change is “replace comfort with health”. I’m not advocating an ascetic existence. I love the pleasures of the modern life. But we are overdosed with comfort. We have no urge to use muscles. A man can easily spend all the day sitting. I see no other option than to give up some comfort for better health,

Refusing comfort is super difficult. It is against the human nature. Whenever we have an option, we always choose the more pleasant one. In order to deal with it I prepared a list of tips or small steps that you can take to make your life more active.

Transportation:

Commuting on your own feet or by bike is the most obvious, easiest and also the most neglected way to exercise. I suppose that most of the readers can commute by a combination of public transportation and walking or cycling. Even if you live in a remote house and have to drive ten miles to a grocery store, you can park the car before you reach your destination and then walk a little.

If you live in a city, switching from driving to walking or riding may even save your time. Even if not, it will save you from stress and force you to move. You will immediately feel the impact of it.

Dead time:

Most of us have at least a couple of 5-minute dead time breaks during the day. Whether you are waiting for a meeting, for a cup of coffee or for your kids to get ready, you can use the time to exercise. I don’t suggest you jump or start doing push ups in front of your boss’ room, although it is also a fun experience. There are exercises, such as calf raises or wall push-ups that you can do almost everywhere without embarrassing yourself.

And you don’t have to wait until the dead time is enforced on you. Take breaks. Stand up, walk three minutes, do a squat or two every hour.

Replace eating with exercising:

This is probably the most controversial tip. But both experience of many people and evolutionary logic suggest that humans can live without three meals a day. I’m not only suggesting you skip a meal or two. I’m suggesting you replace your lunch with a workout. Half an hour is plenty of time for lots of body weight exercises or yoga stretches. Start with doing it once a week. Your colleagues may call you weird, but they will quickly regret it when you start losing weight.

Sweat on weekends:

Let’s say you had a busy week and could not find even ten minutes to workout. You still have no excuses for your weekends. And most people even don’t look for excuses. They say: I got so tired during the week that I need to rest during the weekend, meaning to sit and eat. Bullshit. There is no better rest than going for a hike or scheduling a workout with a friend. And believe that you will feel more refreshed on Monday.

Kids:

In my opinion, kids are the best opportunity to get in shape. All you need to do is to forget for an hour that you are an adult and turn off you electronic devices. You don’t need anything else. Kids will come up with ideas for games and exercises, they will constantly remind you that you promised to play with them. And there is a chance you will get some of other perpetual energy.

Morning stretches:

You may not be able to find half an hour in the morning for a short workout. But you always have five minutes to perform yoga-like stretches. Don’t underestimate the five minutes. It’s better to stretch for five minutes daily than for half an hour once a week. They are enough to help you body wake up.

Workouts:

It will surprise you, but when you start paying attention to how you move during the day, you will be able to find time for a full workout once or twice a week. When sport is added to otherwise active life, you will quickly become good at it, no matter what sport you choose. The better you will become, the stronger you will enjoy it and the more you will train. It’s a positive circle that will change your life.