- 1). Put on a pedometer each morning. A pedometer measures the number of steps you take during the day. Use this to remind you to take extra steps until you build up to at least 5,000 steps per day.
- 2). Warm up before doing gardening or lawn care, just as you would any other exercise. Do gentle stretches, then shake your limbs a bit. Walk in place or around your yard to get your body ready for activity.
- 3). Strap ankle weights to your ankles before mowing your lawn. The extra weight will help you burn extra calories while mowing back and forth over your yard.
- 4). Alternate activities. For example, hoe or till a planting spot for 20 minutes, then switch to weeding or pruning. Get up and walk briskly around the yard in between tasks that require kneeling.
- 5). Lift flower pots or 5- to 10-pound bags of potting soil -- depending on your fitness level -- for a quick muscle workout before using them. Do as many repetitions per arm as you can until your arm grows tired.
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