We talk about the need to exercise 30 to 45 minutes at least three times a week. Ideally, if you could work out 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week, you’d be in peak condition in no time. But since people have trouble finding time to exercise – trust me, I know the feeling – there are other things you can do to help supplement your physical activity.
Overcoming Tired
Sometimes I feel like I’m too tired to work out. I may not have gotten a lot of sleep the night before. I might have gotten interrupted before I got to my workout. I might be sick or stressed or overworked. There are a number of reasons why I may not get to my workout. What I remind myself repeatedly that a workout will actually help energize me and I will feel better when I’m done.
But on those days when I just can’t get to it whether through circumstance or health, there are things that I can do to help keep my fitness up and on target for myself. No, it may not be a 500-calorie burning workout, but trust me when I say that something is far better than nothing.
What Can You Do?
Start when you first wake up in the morning. Get rid of the pillows behind your head. Exert some force and press yourself down into the bed. Take a deep breath and relax. Now, starting with your toes, curl them tight and then stretch them out. Work your way up through your ankles, your calves, your knees, your quads and then your fingers, hands and arms. Do this three or four times and you’ll be improving your blood circulation and warming up your muscles from their lax state over night.
This is really helpful for those nights that my daughter sleeps with me. I swear, she has prehensile toes that dig in to my spine and lower back. By morning, I’ve either twisted myself into a pretzel to sleep around and away from her or the pressure of her toes has left my back cramped. So this type of stretching not only helps warm up my muscles, it helps reduce the stiffness I feel.
Standing in Line
Do you stand in line a lot? The grocery store? The library? Or my personal favorite, waiting for my daughter to get out of her dance class. If you spend a lot of time waiting in line, there’s other exercise you can do. This works when you are standing for the most part.
Tense your buttocks and hips. Hold it for a count of five to eight. Relax. Repeat this six to eight times (or however many you can while standing there waiting). Sometimes I have contests with myself to see how many times I can do the tense, hold, release in the time I have allotted. Though you should be sure to not be sloppy about the work, it can be an interesting competition.
Tired of tensing your hips? Roll on the ball of your foot. Stand up on your tiptoes and then relax. Consider how you pose in the mirror when you are going to brush your teeth – this is more or less what you want to do. It will flex and work your calves as well as your ankles.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about some exercises you can do when you’re sitting at your desk. So tell me, have you done your exercises today?
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