Work, household chores, errands, playtime, dinner, laundry—with so many things to do and not many hours in the day, finding time to exercise is difficult. To help you fit in the physical activity your body craves, we’ve rounded up some simple, quick workout routines you can fit into your daily schedule. With these fast exercise ideas, you’ll be able to stay moving even when you don’t have time to hit the gym.
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” –John C. Maxwell
Sleeping Beauty Leg Exercise
Wake up and warm up with this in-bed exercise! Lie on your back and lift your legs about 6 inches off the bed. Keep your abs tights, back flat, feet together, arms to your sides, and knees straight as you use your feet to draw small circles in the air without touching the bed. Do 20 circles clockwise and 20 circles counterclockwise.
(Calf) Raise the Bar
Brush up on your calf raises while you brush your teeth! Start flat-footed and raise to your toes until you get a tight flex. Do 3 sets of 20 reps.
At-Work Workout
If you have a desk job, it’s important to get up and move at least every 2 hours. Do some standing stretches for your arms, neck, back, and legs; squat a few times; or walk around your floor or building. The movement helps your body and helps you clear your head and stay productive!
Traffic Jam Session
Stuck in 5 o’clock traffic? Turn up the radio and move to the beat. You’ll burn some extra calories and make the wait a little more fun. For an extra boost, add some ab, glute, or thigh flexing. Just make sure you keep an eye on the road and remember safety first!
In the Hot Seat
Start by sitting up straight. Squeeze your glute muscles and pulse 50 times. Rest for 5 seconds and repeat until you feel a good burn. Take your desk workout a step further and work your thighs too! Place your feet on the floor with your legs together. Press your knees in so you feel your inner thighs working. Pulse 50 times and repeat as desired.
Playtime Meets Gym Time
Make exercise fun for the kids! If you have a baby, hold a plank position on your hands for 30 seconds while your hover over him or her. Lower into a pushup and kiss your baby on the forehead. Come up and repeat as many times as you can. Give your legs some attention by doing wall sits as you read your children a book or review their homework.
Torch Calories—and Grime
Burn calories while you clean the carpet. Push the vacuum only as far as your arm extends and return it to your body without moving your feet. Switch arms every 5 minutes. This quick push-pull motion targets your arm muscles and burns up to 100 calories in 30 minutes! The heavier your vacuum, the more strengthening this exercise is. Use the same method of mopping and sweeping—you’ll burn up to 100 calories in 30 minutes while mopping and 100 calories in 45 minutes while sweeping. Burn a few extra calories and clean the baseboards too!
Burn Calories, Not Dinner
Take advantage of your downtime during dinner! Do some push-ups against the counter while the vegetables cook or jumping jacks while you wait for the water to boil. Do 3 sets of 20 reps of one or both exercises.
Walk Around the Block
There’s nothing wrong with sticking to the classics, and a walk around the block is fun for the whole family. Take your kids, spouse, or dog for a 10-minute walk around the neighborhood. This is a great after-dinner activity to beat a post-meal crash. Plus, you can spend time with your family and stay moving.
Sunset Salutations
Unwind after a long day with a few calming or rejuvenating yoga poses. Pair your practice with your favorite essential oils such as Frankincense, Lavender, or Stress Away™. Try some of our simple, sweat-free yoga poses to get started!
Bonus Tip
Remember to hydrate all day to make your moves most effective and keep your body healthy. Add Vitality™ oils to give your water an extra splash of flavor!
GIVEAWAY
******UPDATE******
Congratulations to Anne D., our lucky giveaway winner! We truly appreciate everyone that shared their quick exercise tips to stay in shape!
What exercise tips help you feel the burn throughout the day? Share your suggestions below for a chance to win 15ml Frankincense, 15ml Stress Away, 15ml Lavender, and Pure Protein Complete Vanilla Spice (valued at $252.30).
Giveaway rules:
- To enter, simply comment on this post.
- Contest ends at 11:59 p.m., MT, on Thursday September 15th
- One winner will be chosen at random and announced on the blog on Friday September 16th.
- Click here for official rules.
I like the push ups on the counter and the vacuum cleaner.
I do lunges while blow drying my hair.
I am standing for long periods of time while working…. so I like to stretch out my back, it may look weird while I am hanging on to a counter arching my back into a C but it feels so good to be able to stretch my back out. Or if I am walking in the back to the freezer I will do knee lifts while walking…lol…And then after work I get home and through some Ortho Sport on and Relive It on my back and my tired feet!
I work from home and it sometimes is a challenge to get up from my desk during busy days. I take advantage of conference calls and get up and walk around the house. Great way to burn some calories and get work done together!
I do calf raises while im standing in the kitchen cooking supper, do leg workouts by laying on my back and lifting my kids up in the air with my feet so they can be ‘ airplanes’, sprint up the stairs instead of walk, and going for walks as a family. Also put grapefruit vitality in my water !
I am a new stay at home mom to my one year old so I try to get my activity with her. I do squats when I have to get down towards the ground, I do planks when I’m playing with her (which she loves because she can walk around me), I did lunges so she would follow me when she was learning to crawl and walk, I would do supermans on the ground to do peak a boo. I also would just do jumping jacks while cooking because they don’t need much space. I like to do all this and a shot of Ningxia in the afternoon because it gives my system a good energy boost.
I think a great tip is to get up and move throughout the day. I sit most of my work day and setting a reminder to get up and move helps. Even just walking around the office or around the outside of our building helps. It gets your blood flowing and helps me refocus. And drinking lots of water!
These are amazing tips, and I can’t wait to try all of them this month!
I take the stairs vs elevator every chance I get, get up from my desk and stretch and walk around. Love riding my horse, and taking my dogs for walks and 3 days a week taekwondo… lots and lots of water all day, helps curve appetite, sip don’t just gulp it down :)
Doing isometric stomach exercises while doing the dishes, and keagals while waiting at stop lights is a great way to keep
your stomach looking good.
I use peppermint to give me a boost – without it I don’t think I’d have the motivation to work out! I love these simple ideas.
I walk every morning with my girlfriend….you don’t want to skip a day when you are meeting someone.
I enjoy yoga and nia – a fusion exercise made up of dance, martial arts and healing arts. Exercise has to be fun for me to stick to it.
I am a nurse so I am on my feet all day. We now have rolling carts with our computers on them. I do calf raises while standing at my computer cart. If I am waiting for a patient to come out of surgery or the bathroom, I lean against the counter for some good leg stretches or push ups. At the end of the day, my feet get pampered with some lavender in my coconut oil.
I sit on an exercise ball while at my computer. It constantly works my core and those muscles that usually don’t get a workout.
I loved the lemon!! Will buy more for sure. Great product!
I commit to going to the YMCA 3 to 5 mornings a week. Do my exercising and meet with people to share YL. Wear it, talk it, live it.
I do leg kicks while brushing my teeth, and while waiting for my coffee to cook I alternate lifting my knees up to my chest. I stretch my arms overhead and alternate side stretching by bending knees in the shower while my hair gets wet and while rinsing. every little bit helps.
I like to do squats while brushing my teeth and while adding moisturizer to my upper body.
BTW, I love these suggestions!
Thank you
Planking, planking and more planking, did I mention planking 😊. I try to plank for at least a minute a day, it’s amazing how this simple excercise can still be a challenge yet work so much of your body. It’s quick, simple, challenging and gets results. Get your plank on you’ll be glad you did.😎
Love all these ideas, especially the staying in bed leg stretches. Everyone thinks of “exercise” as this big time sucking tedious task to avoid. However, the small steps\ actions above are perfect little, squeeze ins that work your body a little at a time. Every little workout you can squeeze into each day is 1000 times better then not anything at all. Great job!
Parking in the back of the lot, walking to pick up lunch instead of ordering take out, setting stand up reminders, and walking to talk to people on another floor instead of emailing them are all things I do each day. It helps me not only be more active, but ensures that I take a break from my work occasionally.
One of our favorite way’s to exercise is going for a bike ride with our children after dinner. We all get exercise and the kids burn up a lot of energy before getting ready for bed. It’s a win..win, for all of us.
I enjoy getting up in the morning before my husband and kids…and in the quiet time I get in a work-out on the elliptical machine with stretching, sit-ups, and push-ups. Such a great way to focus and get my day started!!!
Tried the Torch Calories -and Grime. Perfect way to include working out in your daily chores.
I am a virtual office worker, working from home. I am on conference calls throughout the day. When I am on calls where I need to listen and not be engaged, I do plank challenges, increasing how long I hold plank.
I love to take evening walks with my husband. It’s a time we cherish, where we can reconnect both as parents and as a couple. My morning routine is to start my diffuser and a simple yoga video, done before everyone else is awake…helps me to feel refreshed and strengthened before facing the responsibilities of the day.
Love these ideas! When I walk daily, even just move about , I am MIND FULL and INTENTIONAL to Stretch, Strengthen, Focus on a particular area my body needs support. Today, I will be doing lunges , taking frequent deep cleansing breaths, and toning my triceps, to keep those arm jingles at bay! #bestdayever!
I like the quote from John C.Maxwell, ” You will never change your life until you change something daily” It made me realize that the changes I make don’t have to be massive towards more exercise, they can be small changes while adding in more activity daily . It keeps me motivated with small rewards !!! I love adding peppermint to my water in the morning for a great wake up call .
My kids are still little enough to carry up and down the stairs in the morning and night. I do this daily to move the morning process along. I stand all day at work so I will walk around and do some calf work just by rocking up on my toes.
I love running while pushing my kids in the stroller.
I love doing yard work. Great exercise that comes with a feeling of accomplishment.
Whenever I find myself sitting, I work my core by using my muscles to pull my belly in and out like touching it to the back of the chair or my spine and then releasing it. I will do multiple reps, in and out with the tummy, and then alternate it with long holds. It’s a great way to work the core without even having to get on the floor!
Great ideas! Walking is a great activity that just requires a good pair of shoes! Use a ball in place of a chair to work on core muscles.
Whenever you need to bend… make it a squat! When going up the stairs, go up a few, come back down then go all the way up. I also park far away from store entries. One because people like to run into my car and 2 because it’s extra exercise! win, win! I also like to walk around the backyard when the kiddos o to bed!
I like to get in a walk or run before work so it gets done. Walking on lunch is a nice mid day pick me up.
Stealing free time in the day to do stretches and then taking the dog for a walk. I also drink water with one of the citrus vitality oils throughout the day.
I love to walk too. My best time is first thing in the morning when the sun is just peaking over the horizon. Lifts my spirits every tie.
These are great , practical exercise tips.
For the last 25 years I have walked to work, it’s not far but every little bit helps. I like it best when I walk in the rain and I can smell the sweet earth.
Don’t park in front of store entrance. Parking a little farther makes me walk a little more throughout the day.
I like to challenge my grand kids to a race…fast walking race. they get a kick out of it when they beat Grandma…truth is I let them win. I live in the country so we can go for long walks or climb the hills when we go for walks. Include your kids in your exercise you keep them busy and you get a work out! My grand kids love the oils so if we can incorporate an oil when ever we do something they love it!! I have just started using the Oola Fitness and Oola Grow in my daily walks.
If I am esp. stiff, I stretch in bed before rising. I do stay hydrated throughout the day with vitality oils in my water. I store water in empty Ningxia bottles with different oils in them in the fridge. Barn chores are my fallback for calorie burning if I am not adding exercise because of time restraints. And good ol’ cleaning the house.
Keep moving. No matter if I am at work in the nursery or home on the computer, some part of me is constantly moving.
I get my gym clothes all ready the night before so when the alarm goes off in the morning, I just throw them on and head out the door. I keep Oola Fitness on my nightstand and put a few drops in my palm, cup my hands and inhale deeply. This helps me get out of bed and off to the gym! Such a good feeling to start the day with exercise – plus when work is done for the day, I’m done, too, and don’t have to worry about squeezing in a workout. The first few mornings were tough but once I established a habit, it became second nature.
I run 3 to 4 tines a week..pilates is another good way to exercise at home. It helps stretch out all your muscles. I use a water app to help me ensure that I drink enough water throughout the day. My goal is 64 Oz of water/day.
My favorite way to move my body is through hula hooping. I turn on my favorite jams, put some YLEO’s on topically and dance with my hoop. When you love what your doing it doesn’t seem like work at all. My kids can join in too!
Not always ideal, but getting up 30 minutes earlier gives me time to exercise. Plus taking 5 minute breaks once an hour at work to have a little walk around helps too! I love the yoga tip y’all shared.
Trot up stairs instead of walking.
Doing squats and lunges when I’m on the phone ! Long, chats with girlfriends – fun and fitness combined !