Shopping Trips Do Double-Duty as Exercise

From the Huntington Herald-Dispatch (W VA).

"All it takes is 30 minutes of physical activity a day for most people to maintain a healthy activity lifestyle, but we all know that staying active and on a regular workout schedule can be tough. Follow these tips from the exercise experts at Life Fitness to turn your shopping trips into fitness sessions.

Burn calories at the mall. Get there early and cruise the window displays, making sure to opt for the stairs instead of the elevators. Some malls even open early for walkers and offer walking group programs. Easy to find at local drug stores, pedometers will help you track your number of steps -- try to aim for 10,000 throughout one shopping day. Power mall-walking provides dependable conditions, comfortable temperatures and interesting diversions. Plus you'll be the first to know about the latest sales.

Build muscle while toting your bags. Carrying items weighing 25 pounds or more up a flight of stairs is considered "vigorous activity" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Buy yourself the gift of health. Have you been eyeing a treadmill or the latest elliptical? Set yourself up for success with the right equipment.

Discover unusual exercise opportunities. Whether or not you realize it, there are chances to burn calories everywhere you turn. While searching for that perfect item, remember that every time you squat, bend, stride, reach and lift, you're working your way toward lost pounds and toned muscles. Take it a step further and carry your purchases instead of pushing them in a cart, and park your car a little farther away in the parking lot to increase your number of steps.

Make it a family affair. Instead of struggling through a family shopping trip, make it fun. Gather your posse and make each shopping excursion a contest. See who can walk to the store entrance the quickest, or keep track of how many laps you've each made around the mall.

Listen to music. If you're shopping solo, pop in ear buds while you're on the prowl. An upbeat song will improve your mood and make you walk faster. Set private goals to accomplish certain tasks within song-time limits. This will motivate you to keep the activity intense, but not overwhelming.

Return the favor. If you choose to push your purchases in a cart, walk the cart back into the store after unloading instead of leaving the cart in the outdoor corral. Those extra efforts will make a big impact on your shopping exercise regime."

Here's the Wenchypoo shopping-as-exercise routine:

1. Park as far away from the front doors as you possibly can.

2. When you get inside the store, push the cart up and down every aisle, and around the perimeter, whether you need to go there or not.

3. Get in the slowest-moving checkout lane--more time for standing.

4. Push the cart of final purchases back to your car, then return the cart to the store where it came from--not just outside or in a cart corral.

5. Walk back to your car.

You can do this anywhere: in the local library, the hardware store, the theater, wherever. Park as far away as you can, then go up and down every aisle and around the perimeter, whether you need to or not, then walk all the way back out to your car with your final purchases.

If need be, get the kids involved by making shopping a scavenger hunt--hand them the list items for tracking down and retrieving while you walk your way through the store.

If you have front or back steps, they make an excellent stationary stair-stepper, and they're free. You can also stair-step anywhere there's a curb: gas station islands, off the sidewalk onto the street, parking lot islands, etc.

Housework as exercise: Impromptu jump ropes can be made with something other than rope: any non-operable long-corded appliance, such as a vacuum cleaner, will do (as long as it's unplugged first), or just an ordinary non-operable extension cord--NEVER USE LIVE OPERABLE CORDS, BECAUSE YOUR EXERCISING WITH IT MAY CAUSE ABRASIONS IN THE PLASTIC COATING, EXPOSING YOU OR OTHERS TO LIVE WIRES AND SHOCK. Cut the cord and plug off the old non-working appliance cord or the plug ends off an old extension cord for this, so the cords won't stand a chance of becoming live and hazardous.