Everyday activities that can keep you fit for free – like cooking with cardio

The top ways to keep fit for free include carrying shopping bags as a form of weight lifting, cleaning the car for a full-body workout and gardening – with the added benefit of being outside in the fresh air.

Doctor Zoe Williams claims you don’t need to spend a fortune to stay active and healthy – simply boosting your everyday regimes can be just as good.

Cleaning the home and upping your daily steps by walking instead of driving can go a long way when it comes to benefiting health and mental wellbeing – and it won’t cost you a penny.

Other daily activities guaranteed to keep people in tip top condition include vacuuming or sweeping your home – especially if you turn on your favourite tunes and add some dance moves to this everyday chore.

As well as playing with pets and children or grandchildren, or even the bending and stretching involved in unloading the dishwasher or washing up and putting it away.

It comes after campaigners We Are Undefeatable carried out a poll of 2,000 adults, including 400 living with a long-term health condition, which found more than a fifth (22 percent) say their mood has been lowered due to the increase in the cost of living.

With a third (33 percent) admitting they’re staying home more because of it.

And 68 percent of adults are interested in incorporating physical activity into their lives without spending money.

While 16 percent of them are now looking for more free ways to keep active than they were previously, 10 percent can’t afford as healthy a diet as they’d like.

Nearly three quarters (74 percent), however, consider everyday activities like household chores or gardening to count as exercise.

And this is slightly higher (77 percent) among those who are living with a long-term health condition.

Duleep Allirajah, chief executive of Richmond Group of Charities, and spokesperson for ‘We Are Undefeatable’, says: “Boosting your physical activity doesn’t have to come at a cost.

“If you’re trying to build up your activity levels, moving around your own home is a great way to start.

“Pacing the room as you take a phone call, doing some seated leg raises whilst watching TV, or doing a few laps of your kitchen while waiting for the kettle to boil, are great habits to get into, particularly for people living with long-term health conditions.”

Four in 10 of all respondents think carrying in shopping bags counts as a workout, and 44 percent feel the same about running around after kids or grandchildren.

However, 19 percent would like to do a lot more physical activity than they currently do, and only 17 percent currently have a gym membership.

Of those with long-term health conditions, 59 percent say their ability to stay physically active is affected at least somewhat.

And 18 percent report that it is holding them back a lot, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

Doctor Zoe Williams added: “For people with long-term health conditions, the management of their health and wellbeing can be more difficult to navigate.

“But we know that the majority do want to be more physically active in their day to day lives, despite there being some barriers to take into consideration.”

“Rest assured that, for most of us, being active is beneficial and especially for many living with long-term conditions, it’s simply a matter of finding what activities work best for you and adding more movement into your routine in any way that you can.”

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