Most people have some idea that they should workout to keep fit both physically and mentally. The trouble is, life is hectic for most people, especially mothers who work outside the home and don’t get much support from their husbands. Now we are not talking about hard working people such as furniture removalists like Brilliance Removalists Perth or tradesmen, who mostly get plenty of exercise in their day to day jobs – but another reason people don’t exercise is they think it’s necessary to attend a gym and they either can’t afford it, or there is none available close where they live. However, you don’t have to go to the gym to get fit. You can easily do these 5 elements of fitness at home and be much healthier for it.
- Always start with a warm up so there is no injury to your muscles or ligaments. An easy way to warm up is to go for a walk. If you simply can’t go outside, getting a treadmill or a stationary bike will really help. The Best Online Fitness Advice sites recommend Walking up and down the stairs is good too. 10 minutes is a good time for warming up.
- Once you have warmed up, it’s time to do a cardiovascular workout. How? It’s easy; just walk or pedal faster, go jogging, do some aerobics with a video to guide you or skip rope, whichever sounds like the most fun. Make sure it gets your heart rate up. Try and to it for 30 minutes each time.
- Resistance exercises come next to build strength in the muscles. These are squats, abdominal crunches and push-ups. You can also use a small dumbbell, use resistance bands or a weight bar. 20-30 minutes each day should do.
- Flexibility is the next important step and you can learn how to do a few Pilates moves, or simply follow stretches you’ve seen online. 20 minutes is good.
- Last but not least you need to cool down. Warm down for another 10 minutes.
When you first start doing these at home and you are not a bit fit – like many other people – halve the times for doing each one so that you can ease into it more gradually. Once you get more used to doing it, gradually increase the times and intensity of the workout. For instance, if you’ve walked for 10 minutes to warm up, then choose a hilly walk, or if there are no hills, increase your speed of walking. When you feel stronger, increase the walking speed to running or jogging.
Walking and jogging by turn is another good method and it helps you to keep going longer because while you are walking it is like having a rest. It’s good to do these exercises with a friend, but if you are housebound with a baby or toddlers, don’t wait around for a better time; incorporate exercising into your daily routine. Walking along while pushing a pram is excellent exercise.