Excuses become very easy to make when you would rather be doing something other than working out. I am sure there have been many times you have started a work-out routine, especially as a New Year’s Resolution, only to find that you sleep in one day and wake up a week later realizing you talked yourself out of a whole week’s worth of workouts. You tell yourself, “I will sleep in this morning and go to the gym after work”, only to make excuses of how hard work was and you just cannot make it to the gym. What about those of you who work from home or your job is taking care of the home? What excuses do you find yourself making to get out of going to the gym?
We are here to help you to stop making excuses and start working out. You won’t need a gym or any fancy equipment. You don’t even need a huge block of time to work out. All you do need for this type of workout is an “I CAN DO THIS” attitude.
You can do steady repetitions or you can do timed sessions for each of these exercises.
Fitness Model: Lenox Wilson
Photography by: C. Black
Exercises for Work or Home:
Jumping Jacks
Time: 30 seconds
Start: Stand with your feet together and arms at your sides.
Movement: Bend your knees and jump. Move your feet apart until they are wider than your shoulders. Simultaneously, raise your arms over your head. Your weight should be on the balls of your feet.
Keep your knees bent while you jump again. Bring your feet together and your arms back to your sides. At the end of each repetition, your weight should be on your heels.
LiveLiving Tip: Moving your arms and legs in a hopping movement helps improve cardio vascular conditioning. We have all done jumping jacks in gym class when we were young. Anytime you incorporate arm movements, especially above shoulder level you are increasing the intensity of your cardio workout.
Push up
Repetitions: 15 reps
Start: Get into push-up position. Keep your back straight, your head and hips level with your back. Do not allow your low back to sag down to the ground. Keep your feet hip-width apart and your hands and arms in-line with your shoulders.
Movement: Lower your body until your chest barely touches the ground and push back up to the starting position. Your body should stay in a perfect line.LiveLiving Tip: Work every body part with one exercise and also get the benefits of cardiovascular training as well. If you find just a quick ten minutes sometime throughout your day, this is the exercise to do. Pushups require stability and strength of all the muscles (in the body) working simultaneously to lift the body itself against the force of gravity. If you need to pick just one exercise to do, the push up is definitely the one to choose.
Walk
Time: One lap around the office with speed for 1 minuteLiveLiving Tip: Walk everywhere you can. Pick the farthest parking lot from work or the grocery store and walk. Swing your arms, increase your speed, make it a challenge but be consistent because you are setting the example for your family.
Burpee
Repetitions: 10 to 15 reps
Start: Standing with your arms to your side.
Movement: Squat down with your hands extended in front of you (keep your back straight). Put your hands on the ground and shoot your legs out behind you from the squat to a push up position (a full leg extension). Pull your legs back to the squat position explosively. Stand up for completion of one rep.LiveLiving Tip: The burpee takes more effort than other exercises and can be done in the mornings to help you get up and get moving. However, do some type of warm up before doing this exercise.
Shoulder Shrugs
Repetitions: 15 reps
Start: Stand with your arms to your side.
Movement: Slowly pull your shoulders up until you feel contraction of the trap muscles. Hold the contraction for a second. Slowly lower your shoulders into a full stretch until you return to your start position.LiveLivng Tip: Take a break from the computer or finish folding the laundry, shoulder shrugs are a great way to relax your shoulders. By creating a muscle contraction, blood begins to flow, allowing the muscle to get more oxygen. Tension will release allowing the muscles to relax once fatigued by the contractions.
Quadruped Superman
Repetitions: 15 reps on each side
Start: Position yourself on all fours.
Movement: Breathe out and tighten your abdominals. Raise your right leg and opposite arm. Keep your core rigid. Inhale and return to all fours. Alternate by exhaling and performing the same movement with the left leg and right arm.
Laying on Side – Hip Abduction
Start Position
End of the Movement
Laying on Side – Hip Adduction
Start Position
Donkey Kicks
