Expert Advisor: Certified trainer Alicia Jones
Woman’s Perspective: I am a working woman and the mother of two toddlers. I know the importance of regular exercise and desperately want to make it a part of my daily routine. But amidst all the chaos at home and workload in the office, I can’t commit much time to it. How can I sneak in a full workout daily at home, without going to the gym or blocking out time on my calendar?
Expert advice: A lot of people are under the assumption that you have to exercise for a long period of time in order to see benefits. They think they need to go for an hour-long walk or run or do a DVD-based exercise for an hour. But the truth is that you don’t have to exercise for long periods, you just need to make sure that the exercises you are doing are high quality. By engaging in high-quality exercises for 5 to 10 minutes daily you can achieve a very good workout that is going to enhance your muscles and quality of life over the years. Not to mention, it increases your metabolic rate as well.
1. Elevated Tricep push up
Everyone has a chair at home. Keep your hands equal to your shoulders and slide your elbows along the side. It takes you down on the level. You can start by doing it on a countertop. Then you can progress to the chair, a cushion, or sofa until you are able to do that on the floor. You don’t need to go to the floor right away and that’s something very important. People often think with push ups that they can’t put all the body weight on their arms but they need to understand that they can transition into that phase by starting on a countertop and gradually decreasing the level once they are confident. Doing this will allow your shoulders and wrist to adapt.
2. Bridge Pose
I love this exercise because you can do it while watching your favorite TV show, lying down at the end of a long day. It will tone your legs and you don’t even need much energy to perform it. If you have knee or hip issues, this benefit will benefit you instead of hurting you. It will also strengthen the core muscles of your body.
3. Squatting
You stand up out of the chair, and then sit down. You can repeat it 10 to 15 times in a row before you leave the room. It will create knee stability by strengthening stabilizers muscles around the knee. It revs up your metabolic rate and improves your quality of life.
Doing three sets of these exercises with 10 to 15 repetitions will take only 10 minutes and it tones up your legs and arms, and strengthens your core.
