Exercising At Home… A New Series!
A few days ago, Paul and I were discussing the merit of a series of articles based on “exercises you can do at home.” After all, we’re in a recession and times are tough. People are cutting back on all sorts of things, including gym memberships. But even so, it remains critical that you stay in shape – keeping your muscles toned and your heart and lungs working in prime form. So we decided it would be a great idea for me to put together a list of a few exercises you can do from the comfort of your own home, with no expensive equipment, or added expense. To keep things relatively easy to digest, I’m going to split these up into a series of blog posts, and deliver them over a few days!
Let’s get started with the exercises…
Jumping Jacks: Who doesn’t remember these from elementary school? Jumping jacks are pretty easy to do, and are great warm-up exercises or as part of your cardio workout. Just don’t knock over the furniture!
Jogging in place: This is a great way to get your cardio in when you can’t get outside to walk or jog for whatever reason. Jogging is great for your heart. Jogging in place can be done while you’re watching TV or listening to music. I recommend wearing a good pair of athletic shoes even when you’re working out indoors to help eliminate unnecessary stress on your legs and spine.
Push-ups: Another classic, push-ups help strengthen your arms, chest, abs and back muscles. If you’re not comfortable or able at this point to execute traditional straight-legged push-ups you can make them less strenuous by doing them on your knees instead of your toes, or by leaning against a wall from a standing position. At all times keep your hands in line with your shoulders and try to avoid going below a 45-degree angle at the elbow at the bottom half of the exercise.
Crunches: Crunches are a great way to tone and strengthen your abdominal area. Lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, contract your abdomen and raise your head and shoulders towards the ceiling. It’s not necessary to come to a full sitting position, but only raise a few inches off the floor, then relax.
Be sure not to put strain on your neck by pulling, but instead, concentrate on using your abdominal muscles to get you there.
In order to target the oblique muscles or side abdominal cross one ankle over the opposite knee (in this example the right ankle over left knee). Now, contract your right side and use it to raise your left shoulder off the floor and towards your right knee. Again, it is only necessary to raise yourself a few inches, basically till you feel a full contraction in your right side. To target the other side, reverse the legs.
That’s all for today! See you soon!
