D
o you often wonder how you will ever find the time to get in some daily physical activity and stay healthy with all of life’s responsibilities and daily chores pulling at you? With this room to clean, that mouth to feed, and another trip to bring that child there, you may be exhausted even thinking about getting in some exercise.
The catch-22 is that you must be in good shape to keep up with your kids who are bursting with energy. However, you may find it can be nearly impossible to make time for the gym because you are too busy taking care of the kids and family obligations.
As a performance enhancement specialist and having worked with people from all professions and walks of life to help them meet their fitness goals, I realize that your work schedule, time constraints, and lifestyle all play a key role in determining the best workout for you. Your goal may be to desperately carve off those nagging pounds that seem to never disappear. Or you may be looking to start a more active lifestyle and prevent the incidence of any aging-associated diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s diseases, osteoporosis, or arthritis.
No matter your schedule, I designed a workout for you that is WEIGHT-FREE and geared toward getting you to move more in a time-efficient manner. Whether you are in the comfort of your own home or staying at a hotel if you are away on business, you can implement this workout into your schedule.
This 15- minute workout will:
- Engage your core,
- Rev up your metabolism,
- Burn fat, and
- Build muscle strength and endurance
- Jumping Jacks
For 1-2 minutes straight, depending on your comfort level, warm up with jumping jacks as they do wonders for not only your cardiovascular health, but also for muscle strength and stress relief. They get your heart rate elevated early on in the workout, which promotes a higher oxygen consumption. This means that oxygen is more efficiently transported to the bloodstream and ultimately to your skeletal muscles.
- Shadow Boxing
A number of years ago, I was a member of a statewide cardio-kickboxing championship team. Believe me when I tell you, that if you are looking to develop stamina and burn fat, incorporating shadow boxing into your routine is the way to go!
For about 1-2 minutes, stand in front of a mirror and have fun throwing a combination of jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts just like the boxers and MMA fighters do. You may love this routine so much that you may choose to invest in your own equipment. If you decide to make a purchase, I would suggest a punching bag kit for starters that has a punching bag, speed bag, gloves, and hand wraps for additional support and protection.
- Push-ups
Push-ups are like ice cream. They come in a wide variety of options and you never can get enough! The beauty of the push-up is that it mainly targets upper body muscles such as chest and arms, but also factors in core muscles. It also serves as a great exercise for your legs acting as stabilizers.
Start by doing as many repetitions of push-ups you can do from a standard regular position. Repeat this for a total of three sets. This will serve as one of the most time efficient exercises you can perform in the comfort of pretty much anywhere. Furthermore, you can reap the muscle-building rewards of this exercise by changing the angle of your body. By placing your feet on top of a chair or bed, you’ve created a decline push-up. This specifically targets the upper portion of your pectorals and anterior (front) muscles in your shoulders. Also, shifting your hand position up and down, and changing your hand width (wide and narrow), helps add some variety to the workout.
- Squats
Squats are a great way to get a full lower body workout. They engage everything from the quadriceps to the hamstrings and down to the calf muscles. When you perform squats, you are building muscle strength that will benefit your overall mobility, balance, and coordination. Form is really important for this exercise. Keep your back straight and do not let your knees cross the frontal plane past your toes. Picture your weight in the middle to back of your feet and that you are sitting back and down in a chair. Take it slow on the way down, counting to three (all while inhaling) and then exploding straight up (while exhaling).
- Crunches
If you are looking to get your abdominal muscles popping, I am a big fan of the crunch. Not only do crunches help you build muscle, but they are excellent for strengthening your core, which targets your lower back muscles and obliques. The popular mistake many people make when looking to strengthen their abs is they use muscles in their chest, back, neck and hips flexors rather than the abdominal muscles.
To Your Health!
Sources:
Decline Push-Ups vs. Regular Push-Ups
