Around the House
1. When you go outside to pick up your morning newspaper, take a brisk 5-minute walk up the street in one direction and back in the other.
2. If you’re housebound caring for a sick child or grandchild, hop on an exercise bike or treadmill while your ailing loved one naps.
3. Try 5 to 10 minutes of jumping jacks. (A 150-pound woman can burn 90 calories in one 10-minute session.)
4. 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.
5. After dinner, go outside and play tag or shoot baskets with your kids and their friends.
6. Just before bed or while you’re giving yourself a facial at night, do a few repetitions of some dumbbell exercises, suggests exercise instructor Sheila Cluff, owner and founder of The Oaks at Ojai and The Palms, in Palm Springs, CA, who keeps a set of free weights on a shelf in front of her bathroom sink.
While Waiting
7. 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.
8. Walk around medical buildings if you have a long wait for a doctor’s appointment. “I always ask the receptionist to give me an idea of how long I have left to wait,” Cluff says. “Most are usually very willing to tell you.”
9. While your son or daughter plays a soccer game, walk around the field.
10. 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.
Tag: tricks
10 Tips fir Getting Fit
Getting fit is on the minds of most people. However, many people are not consistent and fail in the first three months of an exercise program. But if it becomes a habit and they stick to it, something magical happens after four months. You are finally getting the results you expect and chances are you will continue with the exercise program.
Here a 10 simple tips to help you with your fitness success.
1. Get Moving. Resolve to be active in a variety of physical activities on a regular basis that will develop strength, cardiovascular capacity and flexibility.
2. Prime the Pump. Resolve to participate in physical activities that involve the large muscle groups of the body.
3. Let Your Muscles do the Work. Resolve to lift weight or use resistant exercises to place demands and challenge your muscles.
4. Loosen Up. Resolve to stretch regularly – before and after or during exercise. Remember to move your muscles through their full range of motion on a regular basis.
5. Win the Losing Game. Resolve to maintain your weight at an appropriate level. If you need to lose weight, a general rule to follow is to eat less and exercise more (both in moderation).
6. Watch What You Eat. Resolve to eat a healthy diet. Good nutrition equates to good health. Good nutrition involves providing your body with the required nutrients in appropriate amounts.
7. Chill Out. Resolve to keep matters of your life in proper perspective. Know what factors you can and cannot control in your life. Don’t “stress out” over those things beyond your control. See change as an opportunity, not a threat.
8. Get Plenty of Rest. Resolve to get enough sleep. The basic guideline concerning how much sleep you need is whatever enables you to feel refreshed, alert and in relative good spirits the next day. Sleep helps to rest and restore your body – both physically and mentally.
9. Keep Your Focus on the Task at Hand. Resolve to make time to exercise on a regular basis. Consistency gets results. Focus on the muscle you are exercising. Don’t just go through the motions.
10. Keep in Mind that “There is no Free Lunch.” Resolve to commit to sound lifestyle choices. For example, don’t smoke. Maintain an appropriate level of body fat. Avoid the latest fitness and diet fads, magic potions and exercise gadgets that seem too good to be true (they always are).
Trampoline Tricks
If you own a trampoline, you already know that it is a great way to get out of the house, and into the fresh air. Did you also know that it’s benefiting your health? Jumping up and down on a trampoline is great for strengthening the cardio-vascular system and it is also an excellent workout for almost every muscle and organ of the body. Exercising on a trampoline can also be very helpful for adults and children because it helps to improve reflexes, flexibility, balance and coordination.
One way to enhance not only the fun aspect of the trampoline, but also increase the health benefits, is by putting a little extra effort into your jumping by doing some tricks! There’s lot of tricks that can done on the trampoline, from the beginner level to the advanced. Here’s a few of them beginning with some basics including additional tips to ensure safety and avoid injury.
‘Landing on the Back’ is one of the first, basic trampoline tricks any bouncer should learn and its very simple. Stand motionless on the trampoline with your arms at your sides or even with your hands in your front pockets. Fall backwards onto the trampoline, keeping your body straight and your head up. As your back meets the trampoline, let your head meet it naturally too, don’t jerk or twist it. You will bounce back up and then you can do it again, over and over until you achieve a good rebounding height. The more you practice this trick, the higher you will bounce back and forth!
Here’s an intermediate trampoline trick you can do once you’ve master the basic Back Landing trick. Begin the same way, standing straight and motionless, with arms at your sides or hands in your pockets. Fall straight back again, but when you bounce back up, land on your knees instead! The motion will keep sending you back and forth so you can repeat the trick as many times as you want.
Some advanced trampoline tricks include somersaults and flips. Either of these can be done backwards or forwards, but you should be very comfortable and confident with your bouncing abilities before attempting either of them. Once you’ve got the flip down, you spice it up by adding a spin to it.
Before attempting any trick, ensure everyone’s safety, including your own. Remember to look around and see how much room you have. You will definitely want to avoid a collision with any other jumpers that are on the trampoline with you. To further prevent any mishaps, warm up first by doing some simple bounces and once you get going, remember to keep your head and neck in a natural position. This way you don’t hurt yourself.
Have fun, be safe and keep on bouncing!