healthmedicinet

The exercise habits of the average American are appalling, according to a study recently published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

For the study, scientists tracked the activity of 2,600 people for two years. They found that obese women average a mere 11 seconds a day of vigorous exercise (that’s about an hour a year), while men and women of normal weight exercised vigorously — engaging in fat-burning activities such as jogging or jumping rope — for fewer than two minutes daily, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“We’ve engineered physical activity out of our daily lives and that’s causing the health disparities that we have in this country,” the study’s lead author, Edward Archer, told the news outlet. “How you spend your day determines whether you store your food as fat or store your food in your muscle, healthfully.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that adults get at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise or 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week, in addition to bi-weekly muscle-strengthening activities.

The new study shows that people of normal weight do put in between 150 and 240 minutes of moderate exercise (engaging in activities like golf and yoga) weekly, the LA Times pointed out. However, the study confirms that obese people can become trapped in a “vicious cycle” of inactivity and weight gain, Archer told the LA Times.

“[People are] living their lives from one chair to another,” Archer told HealthDay. “We didn’t realize we were that sedentary. There are some people who are vigorously active, but it’s offset by the huge number of individuals who are inactive.”

According to the CDC, two out of every three people in the United States are overweight or obese. Being overweight, the CDC says, increases the risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart disease and stroke, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory problems and some cancers. According to Stanford Hospital and Clinics, “each year obesity-related conditions cost over $150 billion dollars and cause an estimated 300,000 premature deaths in the U.S.”

With these risks in mind, it’s crucial, experts say, for people to start getting off the couch and moving their bodies.

“People don’t understand that [you] don’t have to go to the gym and lift weights and run marathons to have dramatic impacts on your body,” Archer told HealthDay. “Standing rather than sitting, walking rather than taking your car, they have huge impacts on your health over time.”

For ideas on some unique ways to shake up an exercise routine, check out the slideshow below:

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• Jump Rope

  Constantly on the go? “Stick it in your bag,” says Patel. “It’s something you can do anywhere you are.” A solo jump-rope workout, like this a href=”http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/express/jump-rope-workouts/” target=”_hplink”10-minute sculpting routine/a from emFitness/em magazine, can burn over 100 calories, and tone the shoulders, chest arms and legs. Some gyms even offer a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-turgeon/jump-rope-workout_b_1235545.html” target=”_hplink”jump-rope fitness classes/a. Or, if a less structured jump sounds more like your thing, grab some friends for some Double Dutch.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/adwriter/5826718940/” target=”_hplink”adwriter/a/em

• Hula Hoop

  While she’s recently taken to a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/12/michelle-obama-jumping-jacks-world-record_n_1143016.html” target=”_hplink”jumping jacks/a, First Lady Michelle Obama is a big proponent of hula hooping as a fun way to get active. In 2009, she a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/best-michelle-obama-photo_n_328933.html” target=”_hplink”performed 142 “swivels”/a before dropping her hoop at a healthy kids fair at the White House, the AP reported.

  But it’s not just for kids! And now, with weighted hoops, hula hooping can produce even more dramatic results. It a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/weight-loss-success-jen-moore_n_1341791.html” target=”_hplink”helped Jen Moore lose 140 pounds/a.

  “It’s something you can do in front of the TV,” says Patel, “rain or shine!”
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/stringberd/929274139/” target=”_hplink”stringberd/a/em

• Play On The Playground

  “You may be surprised how much you actually a href=”http://www.seventeen.com/health/tips/outdoor-workout-ideas” target=”_hplink”work your arms and abs while on the swings/a,” National Academy of Sports Medicine instructor Rick Richey told Seventeen.com. You’ll work leg muscles climbing the stairs up to the slide and arms and abs from swinging from the monkey bars, he added.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/colorblindpicaso/2540688582/” target=”_hplink”colorblindPICASO/a/em

• Dance

  There’s a reason so many celebs have a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/dancing-with-the-stars-gladys-knight_n_1452199.html” target=”_hplink”slimmed down during stints on reality TV show “Dancing With The Stars.”/a Dancing is a serious cardio workout — but can feel more like a party.

  “Dance, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to get in shape, as you’re working multiple muscle groups all at the same time that in turn keeps your body constantly challenged,” fitness expert a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/dancing-with-the-stars-health-weight-loss_n_1411588.html” target=”_hplink”Tracey Mallett told HuffPost in April/a.

  a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/first-zumba-class_n_1418895.html” target=”_hplink”Try a class like Zumba/a, or burn calories more surreptitiously with salsa lessons or a night on the town!
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/audihertz/6022929764/” target=”_hplink”John Bollwitt/a/em

• Skate

  Ice skating, one of our a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/winter-workouts_n_1125504.html” target=”_hplink”favorite winter workouts/a, can burn up to 500 calories an hour.

  Inline skating can burn over a href=”http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20420506_2,00.html” target=”_hplink”400 calories in just 30 minutes/a, according to Health.com, thanks to the side-to-side movement in your lower body, plus the way your core engages to keep you balanced. You’ll also seriously work the smaller a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/winter-fitness-outside-seasonal-sports_n_1171917.html#s577032title=6_Ice_Skating” target=”_hplink”lower-body muscles/a that play key roles in keeping you upright.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcolwell/2433110916/” target=”_hplink”kcolwell/a/em

• Skip-It

  Who can forget this classic ’80s fitness fad? The ankle hoop counted rotations as the user swung the attached ball around and around and around. emTIME/em named the Skip-It one of the a href=”http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048660_2049212,00.html” target=”_hplink”100 greatest toys of all time/a. Not only is it a cardio workout similar to jump-roping, you’ll also engage the core and lower-body muscles used for balance.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/zingersb/161779921/” target=”_hplink”zingersb/a/em

• Hopscotch

  Think outside the sidewalk-chalk box! You can mix up traditional hopscotch jumps by moving side to side as if hitting each corner of a square, as shown in a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFJpIjYfydw” target=”_hplink”this Exercise.com video/a or by focusing on a href=”http://fitbie.msn.com/exercise/hopscotch-men” target=”_hplink”balancing on one foot/a, according to FitBie.

  Think of hopscotch as essentially a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/plyometrics-workout_n_1399766.html” target=”_hplink”plyometrics workout/a, which has been shown to a href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12627298?ordinalpos=1itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum” target=”_hplink”improve running performance/a. You can even hop a href=”http://mizfitonline.com/2010/12/15/five-reasons-you-need-to-hopscotch/” target=”_hplink”indoors with masking tape/a, suggests popular fitness blogger MizFit.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkoger/4791448741/” target=”_hplink”Brandon Koger/a/em

• Pogo Stick

  While it will undoubtedly take some practice to work up to 10 minutes of jumping on a pogo stick at a time, it can be a fun cardio workout, burning a href=”http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/12/02/pogosticking-for-weightloss/ ” target=”_hplink”20 to 40 calories in those 10 minutes/a. Pogo stick company Vurtego claims celebrity fans such as a href=”http://thearcmagazine.com/play/0908/” target=”_hplink”Matthew McConaughey and Allison Hannigan/a. Just make sure to practice on a flat, open area and consider wearing some protective gear in case there are tumbles!
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/4819534221/” target=”_hplink”sean dreilinger/a/em

• Moon Shoes

  The a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaMY8XakxQ8? target=”_hplink””anti-gravity” shoes/a popular in the ’80s just may be the precursor to today’s a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/12/kangoo-jumps-mario-godiva-green_n_924580.html” target=”_hplink”Kangoo Jumps/a, running boots of a sort with springs on the soles, used in classes at various gyms and by solo adventurous fitness fans.

  But that bounce isn’t only playful, it’s also an easier workout on your joints than running or jumping. Kangoo Jumps a href=”http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/healthid=7497802? target=”_hplink”absorb up to 80 percent of the shock/a, Beth Kruper, a Kangoo Jumps rep, told ABC. And they may up the calorie burn, too. “When you run in them you’re using more muscles than you would in sneakers,” Kruper said. “So if you usually burn 100 calories in a mile, you’ll burn 130 to 140.”
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamarazzi/6865835105/” target=”_hplink”magnificent momma/a/em

• Paintball Or Laser Tag

  Take group fitness to a competitive level with an outing to a nearby paintball or laser tag arena. While it’s tough to estimate a href=”http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/messageboard.asp?imboard=6imparent=27177758? target=”_hplink”the number of calories you’ll burn/a, it’ll definitely have you running, jumping, squatting and crawling, all in the name of the game, with some a href=”http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2009/07/paintball_a_workout_and_it_als.html” target=”_hplink”bursts of anaerobic sprinting/a to boot.
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  emFlickr photo by a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sombraala/2234093021/” target=”_hplink”Greg Boege/a/em

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