This is NPR's Life Kit. I'm Maria Gadoe. I'm a health and science reporter at NPR and it's not

an exaggeration to say exercise is basically what's been getting me through this past exhausting year.

It's what's keeping me sane working from home full-time, reporting on COVID full-time,

while simultaneously overseeing Zoom school for two kids. So yes, exercise is my mental health

lifeline, but not everyone is moving as much. People on average are just moving less.

That's Selena Duggan. She's a personal trainer in Seattle. Selena has been training clients

virtually this past year. You think about all of the little things that you do, walking to and from

your car, to and from your office, just small things that we're not doing as much of. So it's really

important to make sure that you add those small movements into your day. We all know the physical

benefits of exercising. It strengthens our heart, our lungs, our muscles, our immune systems.

But the mental side and the mental benefits are just extremely significant and I think especially

now, you know, we're seeing higher levels of fear, anxiety, and stress due to COVID-19. And,

you know, exercise is a powerful tool to help combat that stress and anxiety. So in this episode,

tips to get you exercising at home, even in a pandemic, because it's important for your physical

and mental health. You know, it's interesting because when I have friends who have, you know,

pandemic era depression, and they're like, I say, well, have you tried exercise? And like, I don't

have the energy to, you know, do exercise. And I'm like, I wouldn't have energy without exercise.

Like that is probably the single thing that has pulled me through, you know, when I'm down in

these times, I turn to exercise to just rev me back up and sort of shake off the blues.

I agree. And I think sometimes we underestimate the power of simply just getting up, stretching,

you know, light movement. And I think once we start moving, it's amazing how quickly the body

reacts and says, wow, this feels really good. This is what we're supposed to be doing. The human

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