14 Easy (And Sneaky) Ways to Exercise for Busy People

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How to fit exercise into a busy schedule Without a Ton of Effort

In a perfect world, we’d all have an hour to spare every day to go to the gym.

But the reality is you can’t even get enough hours to sleep, let alone hit the gym.

I know your struggle.

A few years ago I encountered the same problem. I had just graduated from university and landed my first real job. The position was an exciting role—one that really tested my chops and made me grow leaps and bounds—but it was definitely more than I could chew at the time.  Not to mention the commute to and from work took 3 hours out of my day. It was exhausting.

I was also living by myself for the first time in my life. By the time I got home, cooked dinner and washed up, it would be almost time for bed. I was so tired anyway that even if I could find half an hour to hit the gym, every cell in my body resisted.

And pretty soon I started to gain weight, feel sluggish, and get sick more often.

Concerned for my own health, I promised myself I would try to get back into exercising regularly. But the question was how could I fit exercise into a busy schedule without running myself ragged?

The solution?

I started looking for creative ways to squeeze in exercise throughout my day—ways to exercise at home, during my daily commute, and at work while I complete the necessary daily tasks. With a little ingenuity, I was able to get more exercise done without having to set aside a big chunk of time each day for it. And today I’m going to share those exercise ideas with you.

Here’s my list of 14 exercise activities you can do even if you’ve got so much on your plate you don’t realize you’ve worn your shirt inside out until you’re on the train to work (yep, been there, done that).

These exercises are so actionable you can even do many of them while you read this post!

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full (warning: it’s boring) disclosure here.

14 Easy Ways to Sneak in Exercise Throughout Your Day

1. Do the Horse Stance While You Brush Your Teeth

How long do you spend brushing your teeth? At least 30 seconds? That’s time you can use to sneak in a mini (but powerful) exercise:

It’s called the “Horse Stance”.

The Horse Stance is a basic and yet important posture in Asian martial arts. The posture helps improve overall endurance and does an amazing job at strengthening the back and leg muscles.

Like the name suggests, the Horse Stance resembles the posture you make when you’re riding a horse—a wide squat.

Here’s how you do a proper Horse Stance:

• Stand with your feet wide apart (past your shoulders) and keep your toes pointing forward or on a slight outward angle.
• Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
• Try to keep yourself steady in this position for as long as you can while brushing your teeth.

Don’t worry if you can’t squat low enough or long enough when you first start doing the Horse Stance. Do what you’re comfortable with and you’ll eventually get better at it, I promise.

2. 10-Minute Power Workout During Lunch

Use 10 minutes from your lunch break for a power workout. Yes, just 10 minutes!

10 minutes is more than enough time to reap the benefits of exercise. In fact, research shows that a 10-minute high-intensity interval workout may be just as effective as a 50-minute exercise routine.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) typically follows this pattern:

• A short period of burst—exercising at your full capacity—followed by a period of rest.
• You’d then repeat this cycle of burst and rest several times.
• Generally, a full HIIT workout would last no more than 12-15 minutes, which makes it a fantastic exercise to squeeze into your lunch hour.

Here’s a great 10-minute HIIT workout video to get you started. Don’t worry if you can’t finish the whole video the first time around—the moves are much harder than they look! Just do what you can and if you need to take a longer break in between the bursts, feel free to hit the pause button:

3. Tighten Your Abs While You Sit in Traffic

Traffic is such a time-waster, isn’t it? But hey, look at it this way—the time you spend in traffic is time you can use to exercise.

Now try this simple ab workout next time you’re sitting in traffic:

• Inhale for 3 seconds and slowly expand your tummy outward until you have a belly full of air.
• Then exhale for 3 seconds and tuck your tummy inward towards your spine.
• Hold for 3 seconds more while your belly is fully contracted.
• Repeat 10-15 times.

This workout is not only super effective for toning your core muscles, it’s also a great stress-reliever. And the best part is compared to other ab workouts, this one feels like a breeze!

4. Do Calf Raises While You Wait in Line

You can do the next simple exercise while you wait in line at the bus stop, the grocery store, or the coffee shop:

• Start with your feet flat on the ground, slightly apart.
• Raise both feet slowly until you’re standing on your toes.
• Hold this position for 3-5 seconds.
• Lower your feet and repeat the above steps 10-15 times.

This exercise will give you stunning tone and definition in your calves. But that’s not all—it can also improve your balance and give you greater ankle stability.

For the best results, remember to go slow and give those calves a good stretch when you’re done.

5. Inner Thigh Workout While You Type Away

The next exercise is something you can easily do while typing away at your desk:

• Place a medicine ball between your knees.
• Squeeze your knees together as hard you can for 3 seconds and relax.
• Repeat these steps 10-15 times.

This exercise is great for strengthening your inner thighs which are important for stabilizing your hips and helping you keep balance. It will also help keep away lower back pain and knee pain which you’d get if you sit for too long.

6. Crunch Your Abs at Your Desk

Do you hunch over at your desk all day long?

C’mon, I know you do. I’m guilty of this too!

Don’t just stare at the computer screen for 8 hours, you’re not a machine. You need to give yourself a much-needed break here and there. But instead of scrolling your Instagram on your break, why not do something that will make you feel good inside and out?

All you need is a sturdy chair.

Now here’s what you do:

• Sit close to the edge of your chair and tuck in your stomach.
• Lean back until your shoulder blades touch the back of the chair. /li>
• Keep yourself steady by grabbing onto the chair with your hands on either side of your hip.
• Point your toes until your feet are barely touching the ground.
• Lift your right leg up and bring your knee toward your body. Hold for 2 seconds.
• Lower your right leg while bringing your left knee toward your body.
• Repeat 10-15 times on each side.

If you want more variations of this exercise, watch this video:

7. Take the Stairs and Do This With Your Step

Going up and down the stairs is a great alternative cardio exercise. And it’s one of the most accessible ways to sneak some exercise into your day. So take the stairs whenever you can!

When you go up the stairs, aim for two steps at a time instead of one for a more strenuous workout. But if you can’t reach two steps at a time, that’s ok—try stepping on the stairs with just the front half of your feet instead. This slight shift in where you place the weight on your feet will have an amazing toning effect on both your legs and buttocks.

8. Standing Leg Lifts While You Talk on the Phone

You can use phone time to exercise as well. The easiest way to do that is with standing leg lifts—this exercise will quickly tone and strengthen your legs and glutes without tiring you out.

The video below will show you how to do these leg lifts properly:

When I do this exercise I usually put one hand on my chair or desk for more stability.

9. Do These Exercises Every Time You Go to the Bathroom

Bathroom breaks are perfect for sneaking in a few more exercises into your day. Since you’re already up on your feet, why not take a couple of extra minutes to do these exercises before you go back to your work?

a) The Wall Pushup

• Stand roughly 12 to 18 inches away from a wall.
• Place your hands at your shoulder level on the wall.
• Bend your elbows and bring your chest close to the wall.
• Push your arms back and return to the starting position.
• Repeat 10-12 times.

b) The Classic Squat

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes facing forward.
• Slowly bend your knees, push your hips back, and lower your butt until you feel a burn in your thighs. Don’t let your knees pass the tip of your toes.
• Hold this position for 2 seconds and bring yourself up.
• Repeat 10-12 times.

If you have enough room in the bathroom, throw in 10 jumping jacks as well!

10. Lunge Walk From Room to Room

Lunges are powerful when it comes to tightening the lower body, building core strength, and improving hip flexibility.

But there’s an even better way to do lunges—one that offers more cardiovascular benefits by bringing a walking motion into the mix—It’s called the “lunge walk”.

Here’s how you do the lunge walk:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Take a large step forward with your right foot and at the same time, lower your body as much as you comfortably can or until your right thigh is parallel to the floor.
• Lift up your body and take a large step forward with your left feet now in front of you and lower your body.
• Keep lunge walking until you get to your destination.

I like to lunge walk whenever I have to go a short distance such as in between rooms of my house. These lunge walks don’t take much time at all to do and they can get your heart rate up quickly with just a few steps. 

11. Turn House Chores Into Exercises

Believe it or not, you can get a decent workout from doing house chores such as washing your car, vacuuming the carpet, or scrubbing the bathroom tiles.

So if you really don’t have time to go to the gym, don’t beat yourself up—just turn your house chores into an exercise routine.

Roll up your sleeves, put on some fast, energizing music, and tackle those house chores with all you got.It’s all about maximizing the effort you put into these chores. So reach higher with your broom, extend further with your vacuum, and put in some serious elbow grease wherever you can.

Think housework is boring? With a little creativity, you can turn the most mundane housework into interesting exercises. For example, you can do a few bicep curls with your detergent bottle every time you do the laundry, or squeeze your glutes to the beat of the music while you wash the dishes. Better yet, try doing a wall sit while folding your clothes.

You’ll be amazed by how much you’ll sweat!

12. Park Farther Away or Get Off the Bus a Stop Early

We all know the benefits of walking. But with a to-do list longer than a fruit roll-up, it’s hard to get the recommended 30-minutes of walking into our day.

Here’s a simple trick to help you log more steps during the day:

Park farther away from your destination or get off the bus a stop early.

I found the sweet spot to park your car is where you’re just 10 minutes of walking distance away from where you need to be. This way you won’t feel flustered or out of breath when you get there but you’ll still be able to squeeze in 20 minutes of walking (to and back).

If you’re taking the bus, most metropolitan cities have their bus stops set at about 10 minutes of walking distance between them, so you can just get off a stop earlier. And for the return trip, just walk one stop ahead to catch the bus.

13. Give Your Arms a Workout at the Grocery Store

Get toned and strong arms with this ridiculously simple workout at the grocery store:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, keep your elbows close to your body at your sides.
• Grab a bag of groceries in each hand, slowly take turns curling each arm (and your groceries) toward your chest.
• Repeat 10-12 times on each side.

If the bags are too heavy, don’t push yourself. Even if you can’t do these bicep curls, just carrying the grocery bags is a wondering weight-bearing exercise in itself.

14. Total Body Stretch While You Shower

With all these exercises you’re doing in a day, it’s important to stretch out your muscles to prevent strains and soreness. Stretching also improves flexibility and blood flow to your muscle tissues, which in turn, will make it easier for you to move your body. And what better time to do a total body stretch than in a warm, soothing shower when your muscles are already relaxed and warmed up? It’s so convenient you have no excuse not to stretch!

Now check out this 5-minute stretching routine you can do while standing in the shower:

Final Thoughts on Easy Ways to Sneak in More Exercises Into a Busy Day

Myth: If you don’t have 45 minutes to an hour every day for a workout you can’t get the benefits of exercise.

Fact: Even just a few minutes of exercise here and there throughout your day will add up to make a big difference in your health.

The truth is you don’t have to spend a whole lot of time in the gym to stay fit and healthy. If you incorporate exercise into everyday activities you can get the same health benefits—you just have to be intentional about how you move and be willing to think outside the box.

Last but not least, remember to go at your own pace and listen to your body. If you experience any pain or discomfort, stop or modify the exercises. Don’t let these setbacks discourage you. Focus on being consistent rather than how much you can accomplish in a day.

Now happy exercising!

P.S. Download my free goal-setting e-guide which contains a 12-week goal-planning calendar you can use to plan your daily “sneaky” exercises. The e-guide also contains worksheets to help you map possible obstacles and develop plans on how you’ll overcome them.

Recommended Reading to Help You Stay Healthy:

9 Simple, Natural Ways to Keep Your Lungs Healthy

If You Suffer From Anxiety, These Tried-And-True Relaxation Techniques Are for You

Learn How You Can Use Food as Medicine

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