I'm sorry that I have been MIA for a while-- the start of the fall semester has me a little crazy. I hope ya'll are having a fabulous end of your summer, and that you are as excited about the fall as I am. I love everything about fall-- football games, cooler weather, and pumpkin flavored everything. The last post I wrote was about how to get motivated to stay fit, and I think it went pretty well because it landed me a spot on thisisquarterlife.com writing about fitness and different ways to workout and stay healthy. I couldn't be more excited! Make sure you stop by their site and check out all of the amazing articles they have to offer. I wanted to share the article with you here, but you can also find it (in a slightly different format) at http://thisisquarterlife.com/5-ways-to-work-out-while-watching-tv/
Stay tuned for more of my articles on their page.
Happy fall, and happy fitness!
We all have those days (or weeks) where you just want to come home and watch the Kardashian family verbally abuse each other to make you feel better about your life. There is nothing wrong with this. The problem only begins when you haven’t moved in six hours, and you feel yourself being sucked into your couch. Going to the gym sounds like such a good idea, but that requires pants and having to move. Neither of those things are going to happen. For those times, here are 5 easy workouts that anyone can do, from the safety of your living room.
1) Lunge
Even if the extent of your workout routine is running up the stairs to your apartment, you can do a lunge. Lunges are the perfect commercial break exercise, because you might have to unglue your eyes from the screen to balance yourself (of course, if you can balance while watching your show, I applaud you). Start on one side of the room. Place your hands on your hips and take a giant step forward with your left leg, bending your left leg and stopping just before your right knee touches the ground. Bring your right leg to meet your left, stand up, and repeat. Continue alternating your legs until you reach the other side of the room, and save going back across until the next commercial break.
2) Plank
Hipster kids plank on things like tables or mailboxes to take “artsy” pictures, but like the sophisticated 20-something you are, you use planking to work your core and your biceps. Stretch out and lay face down on the floor. Lift your body up off the floor, using your forearms to support yourself. Your weight should be distributed between your toes and your forearms, and your back should be flat. Planking causes your ab muscles to contract, therefore streamlining your waist! Start of with 15 second intervals, and gradually work your way up to 45 second intervals.
3) Triangle Pushup
Here’s another exercise for those Cameron Diaz arms you know you want! The key here is keeping your back straight. Start off on your knees and fall forward into a pushup position. Instead of placing your hands apart on the floor, bring them together so that your index fingers touch and so do your thumbs, making a triangle. Make sure that your triangle is directly below your face. From here, start your pushups. Instead of doing a traditional push up, in this exercise you should keep your knees on the floor. Feel free to cross your ankles to provide a little more balance. Start off with three sets of 10.
4) Hip Bridge
The hip bridge exercise is a favorite among trainers to work both your butt and your core. Start off in a sit-up position and then lay down. Place your arms out beside you and make sure your feet and legs are a little wider than shoulder width apart. Now, lift your pelvis off the floor and hold yourself up for three to five seconds. To get the maximum results, squeeze the muscles in your legs and butt. When bringing your pelvis down, don’t let it hit the floor. Bring it right back up! It seems easy at first, but after 20 you willfeel the burn. I promise.
5) Squat
You knew this was coming! Here is a new twist on an old favorite (ha): Keep your back straight and squat down to your lowest working position, with your feet wide and hands folded. Now jump out of your squat, as high off the floor as you can. This is a hard one, so start off doing a set of 10. Rumor has it that the Minnesota Vikings NFL cheerleaders use this move as part of their workout, so that’s good enough for me.
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