How many times have you used the excuse ‘I don’t have time to get to the gym’ or ‘I don’t have access to gym equipment’? What if I told you that you can tone and reshape your body with a few simple exercises right at the base of your bed without even having to walk out your front door? Many gyms can be quite intimidating as we all know no matter what shape, size, or build we are. There is always someone who looks better and can scare us right out the door after our first visit. Thankfully we can workout directly in the privacy of our own home.
What you’ll need:
* A basic standard chair or bench seat
* Two cans of soup or canned vegetables each around 14 oz or so, but equally the same in weight
* A workout mat or a bath towel will work if no mat available.
So lets get started
Have a seat on the chair, place your feet out in front of you as you naturally would. Place your arms out in front of you and push from your heels as you stand up, and then sit back down tightening your stomach with each repetition. Try this between 10-12 times, rest and then repeat for another set. You should feel this primarily on your thighs as well as your buttocks.
Next we will sit up nice and tall on the chair holding the soup cans atop our shoulders, right next to our ears. Raise the cans upward straight up over your head, then lower back to start position exhaling with each raise. Repeat this 10-12 times, rest and then start another set. This is strengthening the shoulders.
For our third exercise we will again sit up nice and tall on the chair. Place your hands on the sides of the chair with your shoulders remaining relaxed throughout this exercise. Extend one leg directly out in front of you and raise and lower it back to the floor without letting it touch the floor 10 times. Do the same with the other leg. Do each leg 2 sets of 8-10. This again is building leg strength.
Now for some toning on our arms… We will once again be seated and holding the soup cans. This time as we sit up nice and tall, we are going to extend our arms out to our sides, and raise the cans no higher than shoulder height. Lower them back down to your sides keeping your arms straight with a slight bend in the elbows throughout. Exhale with each raise, and repeat this movement 8-10 times keeping the shoulders as relaxed as possible. You will feel this across the tops of your arms.
Now we will move to the floor and lay on our mat or towel for some basic core abdominal work. Place your hands behind your head and keep your knees bent. Tighten your stomach, exhale and raise your head off the floor for a basic crunch move. Many people seem to strain the neck as they do abdominal work. Try to think of your stomach as the main component in pulling your head up off the floor by thinking of a string attached from your stomach to your chin. Keep your neck and head as relaxed as possible and concentrate solely on tightening your stomach. Repeat this exercise for 2 complete sets of 10-12.
We now have touched on a few very basic yet effective exercises that you can incorporate into your day all without leaving your home! Doing this approximately 3 times a week can not only tone and strengthen, but can also reduce stress, increase your cardiovascular endurance, as well as burn calories and fat.