Sneaky Ways To Burn Calories Throughout Your Day

Without a doubt, regular exercise is the best way to burn calories.

But, did you know? Every movement you make during the course of your day adds up to how much energy you use. 

So, whether you manage to work out on a given day or not, here are some sneaky ways to add extra movements into your daily routine and burn extra calories.

Let’s go.

Getting ready

Activate your core, boost your leg strength, and improve your balance by standing on one leg as you brush your teeth. Then switch sides as you dry your hair. 

You could do this during lots of different parts of your morning or beauty routine. Just make sure you don’t do this if you’ve got a razor or eyelash curler in your hand.

On your commute

Travelling to work is a boring and time-consuming process that there’s often no way around. So, why not make the most of it by getting some extra steps in? If you get the bus, hop off a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way. 

Take the stairs instead of the elevator if you work above ground level. Even just standing up on the train instead of slumping in a seat is beneficial—especially if your job is office-based and you’ll be sitting down all day. 

Speaking of which…

At the office

If your job is desk-based, you’ll probably be sitting for hours at a time, which isn’t great for your health. 

As well as making sure to get up and stretch your legs regularly, you could make some changes to your working environment:

• Swap your desk chair for a yoga ball to improve core stability

• Get a standing desk (you’ll burn an extra 50 calories an hour just by being upright)

• If you’re able to and feel really keen, you could even invest in a treadmill desk and walk as you work

If these changes aren’t really viable options, there are still plenty of exercises you can do at a regular desk periodically:

• Move your chair away and squat down on your haunches for 30 seconds

• Do some tricep dips on the edge of your seat

• Try some desk push-ups (that’s using the edge of the desk to lean against, not getting up on top of the whole thing)

• Push yourself away from the desk, then pull yourself back in as fast as you can. Repeat multiple times (you’ll need a wheelie chair for this one, though—don’t go ripping up the office carpet)

• Contract and squeeze your abs for as long as you can (no one will even know you’re doing this one)

On your lunch break

Don’t just stay at your desk or head to the comfy chairs in the break room for your lunch hour. If you’ve been sitting down all morning, then you need to get some movement going.

Taking a walk outside for half an hour is better than nothing (plus, it’s good for your general well-being). 

So, grab yourself some fresh air, get your blood pumping, and soak up some sun-kissed vitamin D.

If you can get to the gym, even better. You could also put together an exercise circuit of push-ups, dips, squats, and jumping jacks for a quick 10-minute workout.

At the supermarket

Going to the store is another bland errand that you can enhance with some extra steps and movements to boost your fitness.

• Park your car in the corner of the lot so you have to walk a little further

• Grab a basket for your groceries instead of a cart (working those arm and ab muscles)

• Bicep curl your grocery bags on the way back to your car (FYI: you may attract attention with this one!)

You can burn calories at pretty much every section of the store. Just don’t try jumping up onto the conveyor belt at the checkout and using it as a really slow treadmill—it doesn’t work, and you’ll get into trouble (we’d imagine…).

In the kitchen

All of those groceries you bought (healthy ones, we hope) need to be prepared and cooked, so make the most of your time in the kitchen, too.

Abs are made in the kitchen, after all. You can be really creative here—for example:

• Plank while waiting for the bread to pop out of the toaster

• Jog on the spot until the microwave pings

• Lunge while the kettle is boiling

• Do some calf raises as you reach up to the higher cupboards

• Hold a 30-second squat as you reach down to the lower shelves of the refrigerator

• Grab a couple of tins and hold them out at arm’s length for as long as you can

In your free time

We know that after a busy day, you just want to get home and relax. But, you can still weave some light exercise into those more mundane or lazy activities.

• Get an exercise bike that you can pedal on as you watch your favourite show or read a book

• Perform some bodyweight exercises for the duration of each TV ad break

• Do 20 reps of an exercise whenever you enter a new room. E.g. squats when you reach the kitchen, jumping jacks as you enter the living room

Your Lifestyle Hacks and Tips

All of these tips might not seem like much on their own, but little bursts of additional movement can really add up and help you burn extra calories throughout the day.

These are just ideas and starting points, though. You know your routine better than anyone—so think about ways that you can tweak your activity levels during your normal week to boost weight loss.

You can get really creative and find ways to weave exercise and movement into almost any aspect of your home, work, or social life. So if you have any more top tips like the ones above, we’d love to hear them.

Head on over to our Facebook page to share yours with other like-minded PhenQ fans and let them know how you boost your calorie burning throughout the day. Maybe you’ll even pick up an extra tip or two for yourself.