eFitnessConnection

 

No time to workout?

A quick workout routine, or simply changing your lifestyle may fit your goals.

 

With work, family, and social obligations, looks like we are all living at a high pace these days. It's hard to find any time for a workout routine.

Experts recommend working out 45 minutes to an hour a day (30 minutes for beginners) for weight loss and fitness. But if you are like most women, you don't always have a block of 30 to 60 minutes a day to devote exclusively to doing your workouts.

Even if you are that busy, you can still exercise! You just need to be creative and incorporate some little things in your day to day. The idea is to keep moving. Park half a mile from the mall and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Find whatever works for you and just move. Those little changes really add up!

Keep in mind, though, that short bursts of exercise are meant to supplement, not replace, your regular fitness routine. Following are some practical ways to include exercise into your day, even when you "don't have time to exercise." Just select the ones that work for you!

 

 

 

At home

1. When you go outside to pick up your morning newspaper, take a quick 5-minute walk up the street in one direction and back in the other.

2. If you have to stay home caring for a sick child, hop on an exercise bike or treadmill while your ailing loved one naps.

3. While cooking dinner, do standing push-ups while you wait for a pot to boil. Stand about an arm's length from the kitchen counter, and push your arms against the counter. Push in and out to work your arms and shoulders.

4. After dinner, go outside and play with your kids and their friends.

5. Just before bed or while you are giving yourself a facial at night, do a few repetitions of some dumbbell exercises.

 

 

While waiting

6. Walk around the block several times while you wait for your child to take a music lesson. As your fitness level improves, add 1-minute bursts of jogging to your walks.

7. Walk around medical buildings if you have to wait long for a doctor's appointment.

8. While your son or daughter plays a soccer game, walk around the field.

9. Turn a trip to a park with your child into a mini-workout for you. Throw a ball back and forth and run for fly balls.

 

 

At work

10. Walk to work if you can. If not, at least park your car far away and walk.

11. If you dine out on your lunch hour, walk to a restaurant on a route that takes you a little bit out of your way.

12. If you have a meeting in another building, leave 5 or 10 minutes early (or take some time afterward), and do some extra walking.

13. If you have to go to an office on another floor, instead of taking the elevator, use the stairs.

14. On breaks, spend 5 to 10 minutes climbing stairs.

15. If you are pressed for time and must wait for an elevator, work your abdominal muscles. Stand with your feet parallel and your knees relaxed. Contract the muscles around your belly button. Then elevate your upper torso, and release. Finally, contract your buttocks for a few seconds.

16. Work your neck muscles, shoulders, and back with simple exercises done at your desk. While seated, perform some isometric exercise to help strengthen and tighten your muscles. For example, while in a seated position, simply contract the abdominals for 30 seconds while breathing naturally. You can also tighten and contract your legs and glutes for 60 seconds.

 

While watching TV

17. Instead of changing channels with your remote, do it the old-fashioned way -by getting up and walking to the television set.

18. Dance as if you were 16 again. Put on a music program or MTV. Then dance like crazy.

19. During commercials, jog in place. A 150-pound woman can burn up to 45 calories in 5 minutes.

20. Do abdominal crunches, push-ups, or leg lifts while lying on the floor watching your favorite TV show.

 

 

While travelling

21. Pack your sneakers and an exercise video and a resistance band. Call ahead to make sure your room has a DVD player. If it doesn't, ask to rent one from the hotel. Or if use the one in your laptop, if you are travelling for business.

22. When you're traveling by car, stop twice a day for short, quick walks and some stretching.

23. During layovers at airports, avoid the mechanized "moving carpets" that transport travelers from concourse to concourse. While waiting for your next flight, walk around as much as you can.

24. Try to book a hotel room between the fifth and eighth floors, then ignore the elevator. Better yet, take two stairs at a time. (Check with the hotel first because for security reasons some hotels do not allow guests to use stairs except for emergencies).

25. Do calf stretches while riding in elevators.

 

 

 

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