Habits for People Who Hate Exercise

If you dislike exercise, the useful news is that the guidance does not actually ask you to exercise. It asks for 150 minutes of moderate activity a week — and moderate means brisk enough to notice, not enough to hurt.

Almost nothing about that requires a gym, kit or a class.

Things that count

• Walking, at a pace where you could talk but not sing.
• Housework done briskly — sweeping, swabbing, washing.
• Stairs, taken deliberately rather than avoided.
• Carrying shopping home rather than having it delivered.
• Gardening, playing with children, walking the dog.
• Standing and moving for a few minutes every half hour if you sit for work.

Where to start

Start with ten minutes after your largest meal. It is the shortest useful amount, it has a direct effect on the reading that follows, and it does not require you to think of yourself as someone who exercises.

Then add a second ten minutes after another meal. Twenty minutes a day, six days a week, is 120 minutes — most of the target, without a single thing that feels like a workout.

Check before and after while you are learning what activity does to your readings; you will likely see a lower number afterwards, which is often the thing that makes it stick.

The Knowledge Base has more on strength training without a gym.