A new 2023 study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only 28% of Americans are getting the recommended amount of daily physical activity. That’s less than 1/3 of us!

The recommended benchmarks by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is to spend at least 150 minutes per week or 20 minutes per day of moderate intensity aerobic exercise and at least 2 days per week doing muscle conditioning exercise. Sadly, 72% of Americans are not active enough to meet this baseline metric.

Don’t you think your overall health, energy, vitality, longevity, metabolism, circulation, and disease prevention are worth 20 minutes per day?!

Here’s 10 tips to easily achieve 20 minutes per day. You deserve to feel your best!

1 – Set a goal to walk daily. Have a backup plan for poor weather such as the mall or a treadmill.

2 –Bike or walk to do errands.

3 – Partner train with a friend or family member to commit to strength training twice per week.

4 – Take up indoor rock climbing, which counts as a strength training workout. 

5 – Schedule active outings with friends or family so you can spend quality time while getting in your daily activity.

6 – Schedule meetings as walk & talks.

7 – Schedule workouts with a trainer or friend to maintain your commitment when will power is low.

8 – Put an alarm on your computer to get up and move for 3 minutes on the hour. After an 8 hour work day, you will have accomplished 24 minutes of activity and your back will thank you for it!

9 – When watching TV, get up and do 10 reps of an exercise on every commercial. 

10 – Join a running, biking, hiking, dancing or strength group to help maintain inspiration, accountability and add variety to your activities. There is nothing like a community of like-minded individuals to help keep you on track. 

Yours in health & fitness,
Sherri McMillan

Sherri McMillan

Sherri McMillan

Sherri McMillan, holds a master's degree in exercise physiology and has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for more than 33 years. She has received numerous industry awards including 2010 CanFitPro International Presenter of the Year, 2006 IDEA Fitness Director of the Year, 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 1998 CanFitPro Fitness Presenter of the Year and 2005/2006 ACE Fitness Educator of the Year - Runner up. She is a fitness trainer, fitness columnist for various magazines and newspapers, author of five books and manuals including "Go For Fit - the Winning Way to Fat Loss" and "Fit over Forty" and the featured presenter in various fitness DVDs. She has presented hundreds of workshops to thousands of fitness leaders throughout Canada, Australia, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, Germany, England, Spain, South America, Asia and the U.S. She is the owner of Northwest Personal Training in downtown Vancouver, the founder of WHY Racing Events & WHY Community, participates in various community fundraisers and can be found running, biking, or hiking around the community. Find more information at nwpersonaltraining.com.

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