In modern cultures, sitting or remaining inactive most of the day without any or little exercise is called a sedentary lifestyle. The main concerns of being inactive go beyond the common depression or the mental problems and will influence your life forever because it could lead to obesity, type II diabetes, heart problems, different cancer types or even hemorrhoids.

photo by RCWW, Inc./Corbis

But these are not the only concerns one should have when having a sedentary lifestyle, because the lack of exercise cause muscle atrophy and weakening that could lead to possible injuries. Daily exercise will reduce the chances for colon cancer by 60 percent and heart disease by 50 percent, scientists say.

The same scientists, say that modern people don’t care about walking or jogging anymore. It’s mainly true. I remember myself a few years ago. I was working late and I was getting home very tired, or at least that’s how I felt. A 30 minutes walk was a no-no. I was wrong. First time I tried it, I went for a 30 minutes run in the park and I noticed not only that I had more energy but more important I wasn’t as tired as I thought.

TVs, computers and using a car are the biggest threats to a healthy lifestyle. I’m not saying we don’t need them, but people are not putting a limit to using them. The best example is the car. I know people that won’t walk to the grocery store even if it’s less than 500m away and the reason is “I can’t carry all that food back home” and this is how over-eating starts.

Globally, one person out of three is aware of the benefits those 30 minutes of exercises a day could bring. These are 10 simple steps for spending half an hour of your time to healthy habits.

1. Forget the car for small distances. This sounds like a cliché I know the benefits of walking are incredible. Drive less, get off the metro or the bus one station before and walk or buy a bicycle. That way you will probably earn up to 10 minutes of exercise.

2. Use the stairs. Forget the elevator, bring back the stairs. So many of you will say I’m crazy and some could have a point if we consider that buildings these days have tens or hundreds of floors. The explanation is that you can always take the elevator and get off three or four floors below and use the stairs for the rest of them. Do it 2-3 times a day and you have a 7-10 minutes of exercise as well.

3. Lunch break. Now that we know how to make the most of the lunch break you can probably see the benefits of walking 10-15 minutes in the park. Simply forget about the office chair or the laptop. The effect is doubled if it’s a sunny day.

4. Home exercise. No one says you have to go to a gym in order to exercise. Yoga, stretching or an indoor training bike are great for healthy muscles. Do all these things outside and your body will use the “healing effects” of sunlight which many of us miss these days.

5. Go to the pool. For me the best time is early in the morning. The blood starts flowing and the whole body begins work. Don’t exaggerate, because you won’t make it to the Olympics. Do it for fun and for staying healthy. Swimming is one of the most complex sports when it comes to muscles.

6. Be active during weekend. Take your kids and wife if you have or your loved one and make a small trip to a new place. River rafting, a trip in the mountains, or playing tennis with a friend, water sports, rollerblading or rollerskating are just a few simple ideas I got right now. Your imagination could be better than mine and as long as you avoid the Internet, over-sleeping and the TV it’s a good thing.

7. Physical activity. It gets everything moving in your body, the blood, the oxygen, nutrients, the nervous system and so on, therefore if there’s work to do at home don’t pay someone to do it if you can manage just as well.

8. A pet. I love dogs and probably so do you. Going with the dog in the park for example shouldn’t be an obligation but a reason to walk for a few minutes outside.

Exercising is a low priority for many and that has been long researched. Just to make my point, studies say that a sedentary lifestyle causes more death than smoking, so this is how important physical activity is. Oh, and if you were wondering how you can exercise without having to move your body the answer is there isn’t a solution. No pills, no nothing. Go out and move a little bit.