Driving to and from work and school everyday, I see people out bicycling, running, jogging or walking. I know that exercising is good for  various health benefits, racing challenges, and weight loss or maintenance. But, it just seems like there should be more worthwhile reasons to spend time exercising in daily life. Why can’t it just be a way of life that includes helping people or yourself in other ways too? Are there strategies to make it more purposeful and a better use of time?

I think that it would be an even wiser use of time if it included extra purpose. Here are some of my ideas to make exercise have a more worthwhile purpose added to it.

• Running to someone’s house to do some needed service like making a meal or cleaning for a sick friend.
• Volunteering to help people move where you will be doing a lot of lifting.
• Getting an active job where you do a lot of walking, bending, and lifting. For example, you could wait on tables at a restaurant.
• Riding a bike to work or to go shopping.
• Cleaning up a storage shed and moving things around to be more organized.
• Organizing and cleaning your house.
• Planting, weeding, and working on a garden.
• Taking a brisk walk on a treadmill while doing homework.

On the other hand, you can just exercise in the usual ways.

• Spend money going to the gym to build muscle.
• Have a daily run, jog, or walk by yourself or with friends for your health.
• Prepare to run a race.
• Ride a bike, work out, or go swimming to lose weight.

Exercising in the traditional ways is fine and good, but also consider how you can incorporate exercise into a more active lifestyle, where you get good things done too. If it is part of your everyday life, you can also be getting additional valuable things done. Why take time to exercise only for your body when you could be accomplishing great things and saving money.