Being fit does not mean having to work out for 30-60 minutes a day. It would be great to be able to work out for at least 30 minutes a few days a week, but sometimes reality doesn’t always allow that. Sometimes you have to fit fitness in one exercise at a time.
Here are opportunities to fit fitness into your busy life starting today. If you are sitting while reading this you can you get some exercise in now!
- Sitting at your desk
- Sitting ab exercises – sit forward in your chair, put your hands on the seat on the sides of your legs, and lift both knees up. You’re getting a leg workout, as well as an ab workout.
- Rotational stretches – sit facing forward, take a deep breath, turn to your right, and reach towards the back of your chair and exhale. Turn back forward, take a deep breath, turn to your left, and reach towards the back of the chair and exhale.
- External oblique exercise – sit facing forward, and hold a book or a weighted object in your hands. Turn to your right side, back to center, and then to your left side.
- Push-ups against your desk while you are in your office.
- Leg presses while you’re talking on the phone or on hold. While standing on one leg lift the other leg away from your body and bring it back.
- While you are standing in line – There is no need to ever stand idle while you are waiting in line.
- Standing abdominal exercises press your belly button towards your spine and release, exhale when you press and inhale while you release.
- Calf raises or toe raises (rise up onto your toes for calf raises, and lift up your toes for toe raises) do these while you are in line at the deli counter, the post office, or the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
- At home in the kitchen – If you are waiting for the microwave to finish or for your coffee to perk:
- Push-ups against the counter
- Squats
- Tricep dips on a chair
- When you are watching TV – get up during the commercials and do some form of cardio exercise
- Knee lifts, jumping jacks, or leg kicks. I call them Cardio commercial breaks.
- Abdominal crunches or AB commercial breaks, get down on the rug and do some crunches during commercials.
- While you are brushing your teeth-
- Lunges The dentist recommends you brush your teeth for 2 minutes. That could be one minute of lunges on each leg and plus dental hygiene.
I have a 96 year old client that does some of the sitting exercises in her wheel chair so she can stand up easier and walk faster in her walker. She doesn’t like the fact that she is slowing down. She is really inspiring.
I have another client who hated going down into her basement to work out, so I designed her whole workout in the kitchen. She did a squat every time she opened or looked through the oven door, push-ups while waiting for the water to boil, deadlifts while loading the dish washer, and reverse leg lifts while opening the refrigerator.
You can fit fitness in one exercise at a time, you just need to be willing to do it. Get creative!
Holly Kouvo is a certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Specialist, speaker and writer who specializes in helping people lose hundreds of pounds. Learn more at www.FittingFitnessIn.com.