15 minutes of regular moderate activity every day helps to increase your life expectancy by three years and cut your risk of ‘death’ by 14%, according to recent research.

Exercise can seem like hard work and it’s certainly one of the things that people never have time for.  But it doesn’t have to be either hard work or time consuming.

The only reason we go to a gym and exercise is that we lead such sedentary lives we don’t get enough activity in our daily lives.  Many of us spend our days in front of a computer.  We spend hours in a car or commuting to work by bus and train and then we spend much of our evening sat in front of the TV.

But exercise doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of time and money at your local gym.  Exercise = activity and increasing the amount of activity in your day is easier than slogging it out at the gym.

Walk – it’s free, it’s easy and it doesn’t need any specialist equipment.  Walk briskly to get your heart rate up. Do it on a regular basis to feel the benefit – boost your energy, burn a few calories, de-stress.

Walk to the shops – rather than jumping in the car to pop to the local corner shop for that pint of milk or newspaper, walk.    Many of these journeys are less than 10-15 minutes walk away.

Walk to school.  Too many parents are jumping in the car to drop the children off at school.  Creating bad habits for later life.

Walk to work.  Sometimes not always practical but how about getting off the train, tube or bus a stop earlier and walking the rest of the way.

Walk before breakfast – on a lovely Summer’s morning it’s a great start to the day.

Walk in your lunch break – get out for some fresh air and take a proper break during the day.  You’ll benefit more than trying to work through lunch.

Walk in the evening – unwind from a busy day with a little activity rather than slumping in front of the TV.

Even if you’re feeling tired – a brisk walk can boost your energy levels.  You don’t have to do all three every day but try three a week then build up to one a day.  Download a podcast and listen to it while you walk.  I’ve got a selection of 30 minute podcasts which are ideal for my regular walk/jog/run.

Use the stairs rather than taking the lift every time – either the whole way or for just a few floors.  You might even save time rather than waste time waiting for the lift.

Even activities like gardening and housework get you moving.  Try digging or pruning or hoovering the house to feel the benefit of this activity.

Every little helps.  When you’re being more active than you would be normally, you’re boosting your metabolism and burning off more calories than just sitting still.

If you’re starting from zero – then 15 minutes once a day is better than nothing and will be more than you’re doing at the moment.  Build up to 3 x 15 minutes a day.  Once you get into the habit you might actually enjoy it.

Chart your progress and see if you can do better each week.  Reward yourself for the amount of activity completed.  If you need motivating why not sign-up for a sponsored walk or start with a 5k run.

What are your ideas for more activity in your day?