One way to work out how much more exercise you need is to calculate your current activity level based on the number of energy units (kilojules or calories) your body requires to do different activities. One of the most inactive thing you can do is to watch television the whole day. While watching, as you sit there, your body burns up around 4.2 kilojules or 1 calorie per minute, just keeping you alive.

Interesting Fact: Research shows that your body may actually use more calories if you stare at a blank wall rather than a television.

If you read a book, your rate goes up slightly, that is, up to 1.3 calories per minute. Yet reading is among the inactive jobs, so imagine the difference it makes, when you start moving.

A simple walk around the park raises your activity level to 3.5-5.5 calories per minute. A similar amount of energy is used in washing up your car, gardening, clipping hedges, vacuum cleaning, etc. Swimming burns a little more around 5 to 15 calories per minute, whereas running would push the minimum rate to 6-8 calories per minute and cycling would be 10-12 calories per minute.

There are many other ways to increase your daily level of activity. For example, get up a little earlier and walk around the block before you have your breakfast. When at the shopping center, walk briskly between the shops instead of strolling. Even at your workplace, always prefer staircase instead of elevators and visit your colleagues instead of talking to them through telephone. Driving your cars doesn’t come in active pursuits, so try walking or riding a bicycle whenever you can, that would add greatly to your daily level of activity.

However, the best place to start is at home. Start by avoiding the use of your television remote control and getting out of chair to change the channel or increase/decrease the volume. Also, during you watch television or listen to music, you can do simple exercises like leg rotations, hand movements, etc. Also you can climb up and down the stairs during those not so good commercial advertisements. Try getting a treadmill or an exercise bike and exercise while watching your favorite shows. Try setting up little time in your morning schedule for a simple routine warm up exercise. Slowly and steadily, you can turn this small routine into a regular structured home exercise sessions, maybe two to three times a week. Just before you know it, you’ll be making exercising an important part of your routine and lifestyle.