Fitness is a lifelong pursuit, but you don’t always need to follow a strict regimen or routine. Even small steps count, and the best workout is whatever activity fits into your schedule, even if it is a 10-minute brisk walk or a quick jog up the stairs. That’s not us, even Mrunal Thakur believes so.
Talking to Tata Play Fitness, the actor encouraged everyone to take out an hour for themselves every day and make working out a priority. “If you love yourself and love your body, please (give) 1 hour a day, do not give reasons. Jisko karna hota hai…If your phone needs charging, your body needs charging too,” she shared, adding, as long as you’re getting some activity and prioritising fitness, don’t worry about how much or how often you’re exercising. “I usually fit in 3-4 running sessions a week,” she continued.
How important is it to work out daily?
Making time to work out and eat healthy is a symptom of discipline – one borne out of commitment to fitness and being active. According to personal trainer Deepika Sharma, you don’t need more time to exercise—you need better priorities.
“Movement isn’t an extra task, it’s a part of living. Walk during calls, stretch before coffee, take the stairs. Small choices stack up. If you’re ‘too busy,’ you’ve simply chosen something else over your health,” she said.
World Health Organization recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. (Source: Instagram/@mrunalthakur)
How can you get started?
Sharma suggested the following 4 ways in which you can incorporate fitness into your daily life, when it can feel impossible to make time for anything else.
1. Wake up, move. Before your brain makes excuses, stretch, do 10 squats, or a 30-sec plank. No thinking, just do.
2. Link movement to something unskippable—push-ups before coffee, a walk after lunch. Habits stack fast.
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3. Make it default. Stairs over elevator. Stand over sit. Walk over scroll. Tiny choices compound.
4. Use what’s already there. Play with your kid? Squat while lifting them. Stuck in a call? Walk. No gym needed.
The World Health Organization recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, five times a week, or 150 minutes. While there is no harm in pushing one’s limits, one needs to be careful about overtraining.
“One session will not make or break your body. Consistent work over a long period of time is what will give you the results you desire. Also, you can only be consistent if you’re being good to your body,” said Sohrab Khushrushahi, the founder of SOHFIT.
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Downtime is necessary, too. “Sometimes, just moving and enjoying the movement is good enough. Surely, you can have a session or two in a week where you go all out and enjoy that burn, but you can’t do that for 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Your body needs downtime, too,” he told indianexpress.com.