The article below is an excerpt from my newsletter: Well Enough with Harry Bullmore. To get my latest thoughts on fitness and wellbeing pop your email address into the box above to get the newsletter direct to your inbox.

Exercise is frequently seen as a battle of willpower. Gym bunnies are synonymous with extreme discipline and motivation, while those who don’t exercise are often labelled lazy or apathetic.

But we are products of our environment. The “super-motivated” 21-year-old bodybuilder might have a pretty breezy schedule and plenty of time to train, whereas the “lazy” parent is juggling childcare, work stresses, and all manner of other commitments.

Now, though my goal is to help people move more and feel better, I can’t force your boss to take work off your plate. Nor can I make your children immaculately well-behaved or your schedule less hectic. But I can give you a few tips from experts to manipulate your environment for better health.

That is the theme of this week’s newsletter.

Dan John is one of my favourite coaches because, for more than four decades, his advice has always been tried, tested and grounded in common sense. But when we last spoke, he gave me a fitness tip I wasn’t expecting: exercise outside.

“When you train outdoors, people start to gravitate towards you,” he told me. “If you go to a park every Saturday at 9 o’clock and invite friends, and your friends invite friends, then pretty soon you’re going to build an intentional community.”

Seeing friends and socialising might provide a bigger pull than exercise. On the flip side, you might simply want to avoid a “Where on earth are you?!” text from an acquaintance on a Saturday morning. Either way, you are held accountable, and a more consistent (read: effective) exercise routine invariably follows.

This doesn’t have to involve a gruelling bootcamp class in the park, either. You could just schedule regular slots for a brisk walk and talk with a friend, or do a quick kettlebell workout with a partner wherever is practical.

John’s bonus tip for making these habits stick is to occasionally go for a (relatively nutritious) bite to eat afterwards.

“By the time everyone has food in their bellies, talk turns to next week and how you can make things better,” he says. “It becomes more normal for people to give a damn about the workouts.”

Another way you can manipulate your environment is by keeping exercise equipment accessible around the house – unroll a yoga mat next to your WFH set-up, or keep resistance bands in the kitchen and work through a few exercises while the kettle, microwave, or oven does its thing.

Even putting the kitchen bin on the other side of the room, or placing a few work essentials away from your desk, will add a surprising amount of movement to your day.

These environmental changes extend to diet too. I recently had a fascinating chat with Dr Thomas Sambrook of the University of East Anglia, who led a study into why we can’t stop snacking.

I will share the full interview with you when it is published. But here’s a taster while you wait. His team found that, even when people felt full, seeing food still stimulated electrical impulses in the part of the brain “that kicks off not only when you see pictures of tasty food, but also when you eat tasty food, win money, or look at racy photographs”.

“The short story is that you can eat a food until you are completely sated on it, but your brain still says ‘yum’ when you see pictures of it,” Dr Sambrook explains.

A subconscious habit is created in which seeing tasty food makes us want to eat. This might have served our ancient ancestors fairly well, but in the modern world, where food (and adverts for it) are everywhere, it can override our body’s natural appetite controls and lead to overeating.

Dr Sambrook uses the example cue of sitting with friends around an open packet of crisps or biscuits – the food is in your hand and then your mouth before you’re even aware of your actions. He provides some interesting solutions.

“It’s all about stimulus control,” he says. “It may seem daft, but if there’s a food advert coming on the television, get up and stretch your legs or put the kettle on.”

Dr Sambrook also suggests swapping your usual packet of crisps or biscuits for rice cakes. You still fulfil the cue-response relationship by eating something from a rustling packet, but what you’re eating is less calorie-dense, and because it doesn’t taste all that great, it can weaken the habit over time.

Fat Loss Habits author and long-time personal trainer Ben Carpenter agrees; engineering your immediate food environment is one of his 13 aforementioned habits.

This could mean keeping pre-cut vegetables at the front of the fridge for snacking, then keeping less nutritious snacks such as crisps, chocolates and biscuits out of sight at the back of the cupboard. Or you might avoid having these snacks in the house – the added friction of needing to leave home to buy a bar of chocolate is a surprisingly strong deterrent.

Now, none of this is to say you need to be puritanical in your fitness efforts. Realistically, regular exercise is hard (given the many benefits, everyone would probably do it if it weren’t), and tasty food offers immense social and cultural value. Almost all things can be enjoyed in moderation.

These tips are simply meant to help you nudge the needle of your health in the right direction rather than overhauling your entire life – moving a little more, eating a few extra nutritious foods, and treating treats as their name suggests: as treats.

Get the Well Enough newsletter

To receive Well Enough with Harry Bullmore, simply enter your email address in the box at the top of this page.

You can also head to our newsletter preference centre to sign up for the email.

Once there, all you need to do is press the ‘+’ button and enter your email address to sign up.

“Dancing With the Stars” alum Lindsay Arnold is expanding her digital fitness universe with the launch of a home exercise tool, The Everything Band.

Out now, the all-in-one, multiloop resistance band is a first-of-its-kind product designed to replace clunky gym equipment such as reformers, leg machines, rowers, kettlebells and more. With 11 loops (five “levels” on each side of the center loop), the portable tool, $35, can assist more than 100 movements, all of which are modeled in Arnold’s four-week, low-impact Tone Program, available on The Movement Club app.

Speaking with WWD, Arnold described the band as a physical manifestation of her need to multitask. “I like to get things done. I like to be efficient with my time. And anything I create is going to be kind of a physical version of that,” she said. “The Movement Club is our digital version of that. It’s accessible movement that people can truly do anywhere. So when we decided to go into the physical product space, I knew I wanted something that’s multifunctional, that is versatile, that is innovative.”

Arnold founded the membership platform in 2020, after her 10-year run as a coach on “Dancing With the Stars.” The idea was born out of a sudden change in her own fitness regimen that occurred when she was pregnant with her first baby. “My body was my tool to perform, but when I stepped away from that career and became a mom, life looked a lot busier. I didn’t have as much time to get back to myself,” she recalled.

“I started looking at fitness in a different way,” she continued. “I felt like there was a missing space in the fitness industry for a program that’s for everyone, not a program that’s only for pregnant women or only for people in the best shape of their life, but truly a program that meets people exactly where they are at in their fitness journey.”

In 2025, The Movement Club saw a 190 percent increase in revenue, a 226 percent increase in new subscribers and 151 percent growth spike in returning subscribers.

With 12 programs including Full Body, Bridal, Postpartum, Pilates Strength and Self Care, the membership-based platform is, indeed, suitable for beginners, experts and every exercise level in between. Most workouts range from 18 to 30 minutes, with elements of dance woven throughout. “A lot a lot of my classes incorporate ballet, bar movements and also the stretching that I do feel like is a lot more targeted for dancers, which is really, really cool, because it’s all about lengthening and strengthening your muscles while also stretching and keeping your body safe,” Arnold explained.

The Tone Program, which is five days on and two days off, targets arms, glutes, legs and core, with short, high-intensity intervals and three-to-four reps of each exercise. The format, Arnold said, allows members to familiarize themselves with the band, and hopefully, inspire them to use it in their own regimen. “I will continue to add new videos with the band, like I always do, but first, I really wanted to launch with a good program for people to follow along with and track their progress,” she said.

​Also read | Woman who lost 27 kg shares exactly what to eat before and after a workout for fat loss: ‘Aim for 15-25 g of protein…’

“When Monday hits, and the chairs stay full again. Two long pushes each weekend. Can those really balance out five lazy ones after? The body keeps score differently, maybe,” said Sumit.

Still, some key limits need attention. Sumit highlighted that often moving keeps things running smoother. When you stay seated all day, circulation slows, posture slips, body parts weaken – little by little, they lose their edge. Five inactive days dull the gains from two active ones. A weekly rhythm matters more than weekend effort alone.

Here’s another thing to think about: getting hurt more easily. When exercise gets squeezed into just a few minutes, people tend to go too hard – especially if they haven’t moved much lately, highlighted Sumit. Pushing fast without building up slowly can pull muscles or strain joints. Tiredness shows up quicker when effort spikes out of nowhere. Bodies unprepared for sudden bursts react with soreness or discomfort most times.

“Still, working out on weekends might actually help, as long as it’s done with some thought,” said Sumit. Ease counts more than effort. You can try running, sometimes swimming instead; pair either with strength drills along with quick footwork. Wait until movement feels smooth before adding speed, ease off gradually once finished.

Mornings aren’t the only time motion matters. Getting up to stroll, reach, or shift positions through workdays cuts down the health downsides of too much stillness.

“Just twice a week, moving your body? That still misses what everyday motion offers. Showing up – any way you can – is more crucial than how hard you push. Consistency wins easily when matched against sporadic bursts. Skip perfect routines; choose ones that fit smoothly into life. Progress forms slowly, built by tiny actions done again and again,” said Sumit.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.