On an average day, how much exercise do you get that is NOT scheduled?

[guavagirl]

I am a huge proponent of physical activity. Lately, however, I've become frustrated by how physical activity has become relegated as a privilege of those who have enough time, money, resources, or plain old-fashioned doggedness to invest in health clubs, equipment, classes, or magical ab-flatteners :) And thus, my frustration extends to those who practically do cartwheels themselves in trying to get everyone else to exercise.

Once upon a time, people did not exercise for the sake of exercising! It was integrated into their lives, either as part of their work or transportation. An even longer more innocent time ago, folks didn't need to worry about exercising outdoors in polluted or insecure environments.

A simmering irkedness toward suburban design? You be the judge ;)

And thus my question: not including your runs, walks, classes, etc. that you participate in for the sake of exercising alone, how many minutes of exercise do you get on an average day?

(In case you're wondering, I get 35 minutes/day, because I walk to and from work.)

[food girl]

I have been doing lots of yard work recently does that count? I take the stairs at work and go for a stroll sometimes at lunch.


I do 'formal exercise' 5 days a week usually.

I am equally irked by suburban design. I put my bike on the back of my car to go somewhere less congested to ride, on my way I see 10 other folks with bikes on the back of thier cars. Why can't we just ride where we are going???


Knoxville is so pedestrian un-friendly. Few sidewalks in suburban areas, no sidewalks on very busy roads near shopping etc.


I lived 3 blocks from work a few years ago, you wouldn't believe the number of people who offered to give me a ride home. It was only 3 blocks for crying out loud.

Lisa

[akairo]

Well, I have three children, 3 and younger. I spend my entire day (0700 until 2100 hrs) running up&down stairs, chasing after one or the other, cleaning, cooking, and on the floor playing horsey, tickle and wrestle. Does this count? Probably not since I can't seem to lose that pregnancy weight, but I sure am wore out by the end of the day. I currently get zero planned exercise. Before I packed my house up I did use my treadmill for 30 min a day. And ride bikes with my DH pulling the kids in trailers. Cest'la vie. That will come agin in a couple weeks.

Tamara

[BosunsWife]

Same excuse as Akairo. I run around all day after a two year old and also live in a two story townhouse. I get to the gym at least three days a week and generally always go for a walk in the evening with DD and DH when he's home.

[Angela]

I would say I get about 10-19 mins. a day. I work in a hospital as an Interior Designer, so between walking throughout the hospital, climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevators, and carrying around wall covering books (those books are heavy!)and fabric samples I can get a pretty decent workout some days just by doing my job.

[GayeC]

I had to guess on my response. I am trying to get more activity in my day but am using a pedometer to measure it. My goal is 12,000-14,000 steps a day and I am ususally reaching it (and sometimes reach 16,000). My daily 30-min planned exercise walk is 4000-4200 steps, so most of my activity is incurred in going about my daily routine.

We also have to take our bikes somewhere if we want to ride. We had to have a trailer hitch installed on our van just so we could get a 4-bike carrier! That seems ridiculous!
Gaye

[MelissaAS]

I work on a college campus where parking is notoriously "horrible" so I walk about 15 minutes total to and from my car after parking. Then I walk an additional 10 or 15 per day around campus to meetings and/or to/from my lunchtime step class. I consider the outside/sunshine time one of the perks of the job, but you wouldn't belive the complaining around here about the 5-10 minute walk from parking to office! Yikes!

[emilycat]

Melissa, you just reminded me how much I miss trekking around campus all day! Whether I was living in the dorms, in my sorority house or in an apartment off-campus, I always walked quite a bit -- I'd guess about an hour a day. I loved it! (Although Carolina's postcard environs do help a bit. ;) )
Now, I try my best to get as much "extra" activity as I can, whether it's roaming Harry's or a bookstore at lunch, carrying my recycling to the bins and getting my mail instead of driving to them, walking around the office to talk to people instead of calling them, etc. I suppose I get around 30 minutes of actual walking each day in addition to my planned workouts; I generally cook for a couple of hours each night, as well, and that's not exactly sitting down eating bon bons. :)

[KValley]

Melissa,

I used to work at a university, and I so miss all the walking I used to do- from my house to the bus stop, from bus stop to office, around campus for meetings, walking at lunch, up and down the hall from my office to resource room to greet students.

Now that I work from home, I really miss that informal exercise.

I try to walk into town every day, to run errands, or have a cup of decaf and a biscotti at my favorite cafe, while I write. If I don't get out in the afternoon, or in addition to, I take a long walk with the dog and DH in the evenings. I also walk to/from my gym 4x/week.

I would guesstimate my informal exercise to be 45-60 minutes of walking/day.

[Laura]

Ugh.... not enough. I work in an office building that is not close to my home so I must drive. I try not to park close to the market, post office, etc, but I have become increasingly lazy except for my scheduled work outs, which is why I need to be more diligent about them.

[lindrusso]

Great question Guavagirl! This is something I've been trying to work on, but I must admit that I haven't tried hard enough. I picked 5-9 minutes, because most days, other than going to the gym, I don't get much. But then other days I'll get a little.

It's a bit harder with kids, but still no excuse for me now that they are 4 and 7. So, I will try hard to fit in some bike rides, maybe walk to the library with them, etc. Something that is on my healthy living goal list, but I really haven't made much of an effort. Even if I'm not motivated to do it for myself, I should be for my kids!!!! I don't want to raise sedentary, inactive kids!

[SusieO]

I spend at least an hour walking my dog over the course of a day, closer to two hours when the weather permits. Of course, some days that IS my planned exercise. :D Otherwise, I run errands on foot whenever possible, and always park far away from the entrance of wherever I'm going. Does anyone else get a chuckle from watching people circle the parking lot at the health club, looking for a parking spot close to the door?

[RunnerKim]

Lets see - I get about 30 minutes each day walking to/from the light rail station to go to work. I've really come to enjoy that transition from work to home.

I also have lots of fun with dog agility (dog does an obstacle course - human runs around directing dog to correct obstacle) and practice most days, but can't really put a number on minutes as it's sporadic -- a couple minutes of weave poles, put the veggies on the grill -- a couple of minutes of practicing jump combinations, stir the veggies, check over tomato plant, etc.

I also normally run 5 mornings a week (with my dog) and walk during my lunch break (otherwise I sit on my behind all day behind a computer). I've had a couple of minor-ish injuries though and am just back to the walking and hoping to start building my running milage again.

Kim

[Alaine]

Since we traded in our urban apartment for a house in the 'burbs and two kids, I miss my hour+ of walking every day. It was sooo convenient to walk to school/work, restaurants, movies, shopping, parks, library--but that doesn't mean I would trade it for the advantages of a more spacious house farther away from the city (okay, on some days I would!). So these days, it's the gym or nothing in terms of staying active.

I'm really intrigued about the new concepts of self-contained neighborhoods, where mixed-use housing borders a large shared green space, often with a playground, and is designed to provide walking opportunities to small retail areas and sometimes an elementary school. It seems like an appealing way to create a small community, which I definitely don't feel in our "neighborhood." Is anyone else familiar with this concept and are they building these elsewhere? They do tend to be more expensive than a 'regular' house.

[guavagirl]

thank you all for your input and insights! i can tell from the distribution of responses that this is a very special group -- conscientious about activity and engaging in the community. hmmm ... wonder how the distribution would look if we posted this poll somewhere else?

Alaine: i haven't heard the term "self-contained community" per se, but the concept you describe is familiar. i wonder whether, with the flurry of construction over the past few years, any new communities like this have arisen and whether they are succeeding. i, for one, live in an old-fashioned version -- grocery, shops, parks, schools, and, yes, even trader joe's all within walking distance. and, as you describe, the cost of housing is sky-high. location, location, location. i do believe, however, that until consumers more uniformly place high value on walkable communities and retailers bite the bullet and enter these communities on a smaller scale (booo, walmart!), they will continue to be rare.

RunnerKim: hope you are recovering swiftly and exuberantly from your injuries. you have my empathy!

SusieO: i hear you! a bizarre and extreme extension of having to drive far away to get in a good bike ride :)

Everyone: have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. And from the looks of comments on the BB, perhaps some of us will actually be in labor!

[aggie94]

I think many of you would be surprised at how much "informal" exercise you get during an average day. I've been wearing a pedometer to try to increase my daily activity levels, and have noticed that even on days that I feel like I do NOTHING (i.e. go to work, go home, make dinner, watch TV, go to bed), I still manage to accumulate as many steps as I get from walking for 30-40 minutes. I don't take stairs at work, I park about a block and a half from my office, and I hardly get out of the office during the day. Even still, the time spent walking around the house to get ready in the morning, walking to and from my car, walking around the office to talk to people, or make copies, or get a snack from the fridge (:)), or to use the bathroom, and then walking around the kitchen at night making dinner takes a lot of steps!

After wearing the pedometer for awhile, I was shocked that some of the people in the Walking magazine article that participated in the program were originally only averaging 3000 steps a day. That is SOME couch potato. I have yet to manage a day where I get that few steps, and some days, I know I'm a pretty inactive person (like that Sunday afternoon when I was feeling under the weather and slept until 4 pm!). You'd be surprised how much walking you do, just going about your day-to-day life.

All that said, I checked 30+ minutes.

[Peggy C.]

This is a very interesting thread. I usually stick to the food BB, hey that's what I know. Anyways I checked 20-29 minutes (atleast that's what I get 5 days a week) About 7 minutes to bus stop another 7 to office and back again in the evening. I walk to run errands whenever possible or ride my bike. I walk the dog most nights for 30-60 minutes, but that's the exercise I plan on. I really need more, but it is really hard.

Like someone else said, it's interesting that people are always offering you rides, when your intent was to leave the car at home to go get that loaf of bread.