UNITED STATES—With the summer months now behind us, the chance to get outdoors for most of us and to get the body moving is slowly on the decline. So what is one to do to maintain a good physical health? Well, exercise indoors of course.
This doesn’t mean you have to go out and purchase a super expensive treadmill, bicycle or an exercise contraption that you never use. So many of us waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on exercise equipment that we never use; yes, it’s a shame, but it happens all too often. Go back to the glory days when most of us got exercise the traditional way.
There are things that you can do in your own home to get the quality exercise that you would get at the gym or with other highly specialized forms of equipment. For example, if you don’t have a treadmill or elliptical, you can use your stairs as a form of movement; a couple of trips up and down the stairs can have just as much of an impact as the treadmill or elliptical that you use. I’d say a good 20-30 minutes of continual movement is good.
A jump rope is a great tool to use for the body. Many may be surprised to discover that jump roping is considered one of the best sources of exercise because it allows the body to burn a multitude of calories in a short time frame. Not many people know that or think about that. Just imagine if you spent 30 minutes a day utilizing the jump rope, your body would thank you in so many ways you wouldn’t be able to believe it. If using the stairs or jump rope is not in your future, you can go back to those techniques that you learned in gym class.
Yep, I’m talking about sit-ups, push-ups and jumping jacks. While jumping jacks may seem like child’s play it allows the body to move it’s good for the arms and the legs. They can be a bit of tire in doing jumping jacks, but time your body and do your jumping jacks in sets.
Sit-ups are good for building up a hard core stomach or that six-pack that so many of us aim for. I’ve always been told if it doesn’t hurt you’re not doing it right, which is so true. Lay on a flat surface, try to use a towel or gym pad to keep the back in a steady spot. Do crunches by keeping your body as flat as possible and you move forward to touch your toes or placing your arms behind your head to move the upper body to the torso; remember the more that you do, the more your body will thank you.
Perhaps one of the most underrated exercises of all time is the push-up. If you do a push-up correctly the body will feel it. For starters, the form you utilize for a push-up is very important. Don’t attempt to cheat; do it correctly. Feet close together and pointed towards the ground, arms elevated, and head held straight. Each time that you push down, you should never touch the ground, but use your chin as a guide. When you push up try to keep your body as straight as possible. If you cheat while doing a push-up it won’t have the overall impact on the body that you were expecting.
Just imagine doing a mixture of these exercises daily. You don’t have to do them all, do a mix of each during the week. One day doing push-ups and jumping jacks and the next day doing sit-ups and jump roping. The more you change the routine the more the body appreciates. Just because its gets cold outside doesn’t mean exercise stops.
