Let’s face it. Exercising is one of those things that many of us really have to push ourselves hard to follow through with. I don’t like to spend hours working out, I’ve got other things to do and it won’t allow for me to be at a gym two hours each day consistently. What I do like is to find exercise moves that can be fit in while watching TV, doing dishes, and cleaning the house. Hey it may only be 10 minutes here or there–but you’re getting some necessary muscle engagement action going on and it pays off. So here are some ideas that you can use to get you going:
Double Duty Toning Moves
The vacuum lunge. You pushing and pulling the big clunky vacuum around, why not add a nice forward stride to that and work out the buttocks and thighs. Thats right, step forward with one leg until your knee is (almost) to the ground and you feel your thigh muscle engaged. Try to do at least 15 on each leg before switching to the other leg. Feel the burn, baby.
Kitchen calf raises. Dinner is now complete and you have all the dishes and pots to rinse off before they go into the dishwasher (if you’re lucky enough to have one). You ARE just standing there, why not put those pretty little legs to work while you scrub away? The great thing about calf raises is you can do them in just about any foot position you desire. Toes turned out, Toes straight forward, and even toes turned in! Want to get fancy? Try doing them on one leg at a time and see how many you can do.
Teeth brushin’ squats. My old coworkers used to get a kick out of this one because I would demonstrate for them at work. Don’t ask. Again, you ARE just standing there for a good two minutes while you’re brushing away, why not give those legs and buns a workout? If you squat with knees forward and parallel, make sure to stick your butt out, almost like you were going to fall into a chair. If you choose to do a ballet plie (pronounced plee-aye) you have your toes turned out more to the sides and keep your head, shoulders and hips stacked on top of one another. In other words, no hunching or leaning forward, and use your stomach muscles to keep you straight up. Want to get fancy with these? Pulse at the bottom for some real booty burning.
Bathtub dips: Do you hate that soft area on the back of your upper arms? Yeah, me too. Blast them with some bathtub bench press moves while you fill your tub for a glorious soak. You’ll need to face away from the bathtub and let your booty dip down to the floor (almost) and then push yourself back up. Other variations here are doing pushups face forward for more of a chest workout. The key is keeping your tummy muscles tight while doing either variation so you’re not just flopping up and down and keeping those muscles working!
Television planks. Your favorite show is on for the next hour, why not strengthen your arms and abs while you’re at it? There are so many variations of the plank I encourage you to check them out on pinterest. You can essentially get a full body workout with just the plank! Get yourself into a pushup position and lower yourself onto your elbows. Keep your face down and not straining to look at the TV–you’re going to do these while commercials are on so don’t worry, you won’t miss a thing. Stay flat as a board. You should feel your core muscles working to keep you from dipping down to the floor. Aim to hold that position for one minute or for as long as you can go. If you can get to five minutes than bravo, you’ve got a good strong core!
Keep in mind these moves are to help keep your muscles toned and in action. It requires a lot more to make serious changes which could mean evaluating your diet, your sleeping routine, and cardio input. These are just ideas to get you started.
Are there creative moves you do around your house to work your muscles? Share in the comments below!
This 5 move is amazing to tone your body & become beautiful but its not possible to do it regularly…can you give me any suggestion for this?