Dedicated fitness plans
Recruiting a fitness buddy is always an added advantage when starting a fitness plan as they make it fun and keep you motivated. Alternatively you may wish to consider hiring a personal trainer. They will help you set goals and keep you motivated and personal trainers are not just for celebrities! They are not as expensive as you think they are, particularly if you just hire one for a 5-week plan to get you started into your routine. You will be less likely to pull out at the last minute if you have an appointment with a personal trainer or your fitness buddy.
Finally, don't underestimate the power of rewards. Promise yourself something - a dinner out, a new pair of shoes or a good book - for attaining your goals.
The Couch Potato
A healthy adult should watch no more than one or two hours of television a day, so if your TV habit is way over that mark, it’s time to take a break. However, if you cannot envisage dragging yourself away from those soaps, make TV time work for you and your fitness.
The following activities can be done between your favourite TV programmes or while waiting for the dinner to cook:
- Make use of your stairs. Play some music and start walking up and down the stairs. Push from the heel, not the knee, and don't hold on to the handrail. As you progress, start walking up and down holding a soup tin in each hand for resistance.
- Dancing. Blast the radio and dance your socks off. It's a cheap, easy, effective cardio workout.
- Cleaning. Put some energy into your cleaning to help you burns lots of calories and get that dreaded housework done in your work-out time!
- Skipping. Invest in a skipping rope as skipping is a fantastic way to get cardiovascular exercise while staying in the comforts of your home.
- Washing your car. Don't take your car to a car wash - do it yourself and put some effort in. Washing the car works the front and backs of your arms, plus your shoulders and back muscles, making it as effective as press-ups
- Gardening. Short spurts of vigorous gardening, like digging in compost or raking wet leaves, will boost your fitness levels more than you think, so get stuck in
Instead of driving yourself to work or the shops or driving the kids to school try:
- Riding your bike. You'll save money on bus fare, and you'll arrive at work or your kids will arrive at school fresh and ready for action
- Walking. Researchers have found that 10 minutes of brisk walking in the morning, afternoon and evening works just as well as one long 30-minute walk. Go for a quick walk at lunchtime- head to the park or go shopping! If you feel that you are not working hard enough try stepping up the pace to power-walking. Find the happy medium.
Try a different activity each day - you'll be amazed by how much better you'll feel and look!
The dog walker / occasional jogger.
Walking and jogging help you to lose weight, prevent muscle and bone loss that occurs naturally with old age and may help fight disease. They are certainly the most effective forms of cardiovascular exercise out there. Before you set out be sure to choose a safe environment to walk/jog in. You may want to purchase a pedometer and keep track of your miles or steps logged as you discover unique areas. It’s recommended that we try to walk at least 10,000 steps everyday, so a pedometer will help you keep track of this, and spur you on to reach and even exceed that goal!
- Start by walking
Low risk and easy to start, walking is one of the easiest, most cost-effective and enjoyable forms of exercise. Everyone needs to feel comfortable and successful right from the start. Begin by walking for 30 minutes. Keep doing this until it feels easy. - Power-walk.
When normal walking becomes easy, walk briskly for 30 minutes and monitor your heart rate by assessing your breathing. If you can still hold a conversation easily, pick up the pace. On the other hand if you get out of breath too easily or need to stop to catch your breath you’re working too hard. You may not want or need to go beyond a brisk power walk, provided you can maintain an increased heart rate. - Alternate with jogging
When you are comfortable walking briskly and if you want to step up the pace, simply insert some periods of jogging of 100 metres or so (about the length of one soccer pitch) into your 30-minute walk. Warm up by walking slowly, build into a brisk walk and then do the short jogs when you feel ready. - Increase the jogging as desired
Increase the jogging segments as you feel stronger, always avoiding discomfort. You may eventually fill in the 30 minutes with slow running - or you may keep your walking breaks. Running will push your heart rate higher while walking will keep you comfortable. - Step it up.
Increase the time to 40 minutes three times a week. Work up to 60 minutes for one of these weekly sessions, which will increase the cardiovascular as well as mental benefits.
To keep you inspired to continue walking/jogging by yourself, with a friend or with your dog you need to keep your routes interesting and safe. Walking trails and parks will allow you to explore local rocks, flowers, rivers and wildlife. Hiking up hills will increase the tempo and provide beautiful views. The beach will provide tranquillity and fresh sea air while the presence of sand will help you burn a few extra calories.
The world is your gym, so get out and get moving! Remember walking and jogging provides mainly cardio fitness, full body fitness also requires resistance and flexibility training!
An exercise plan without the gym
Gyms aren't a necessity for getting fit. You can get the same effects without those fancy gym machines. Working out at home saves time as it cuts out the time spent going back and forth to the gym, and allows for greater flexibility concerning the time you work out. In addition, if you have small children, it eliminates child care and baby-sitting issues and expenses.
Here are a few home work-out tips!
Firstly, warm up.
Perform 5-10 minutes of light aerobic exercise such as walking up and down the stairs a few times.
Strengthening and Toning Exercises
- Use your body weight as natural resistance. Almost any kind of strengthening or toning exercise can be done by using your body weight as natural resistance i.e. push-ups, squats, sit-ups, lunges, dips or jumping jacks.
- Use free weights for strengthening and toning your biceps, triceps chest and shoulders. Using free weights engages your core muscles throughout your entire workout and increases your balance. Soup tins or water bottles partially filled with sand or gravel can be used. Alternatively you can purchase dumbbells which are relatively inexpensive. Keep your weights low to moderate in weight and have increasing repetitions. This way, you will tone, strengthen and define muscles without adding bulk.
- Gymballs or Swiss balls are excellent tools for controlled body-conditioning moves, such as squats, push-ups, sit-ups and back extensions. The theory is that exercising on such an unstable surface will make your core stabilising muscles work overtime while improving your general fitness.
- Use workout videos/DVDs. There are lots of good workout DVD’s out there, such as pilates, yoga and aerobic/weight training combinations most of which are relatively cheap. Alternate your days between an aerobic work-out and a pilates or yoga work-out to provide a healthy exercise balance. However, if you haven’t been to a pilates or yoga class before, it’s best to be taught these exercises properly before trying them out at home, so check out classes in your area.
Cardiovascular work-out
- Running is one of the most vigorous cardiovascular exercises .It strengthens the heart and lungs while burning lots of calories. For a 68kg person 30 minutes of jogging will burn approximately 300 calories. Invest in a good pair of trainers and change your route often to keep it interesting.
- Cycling is an excellent calorie burner and focuses on strengthening the upper thigh muscles, backside, and calf muscles. It gets you where you want to go quicker and the surrounding environment will keep you stimulated. If you've got kids, it's a great excuse to get everyone out into the fresh air together.
- Rollerblading as a form of cardiovascular exercise is as beneficial as running or cycling. In contrast to running, inline skating is a low impact activity which is easier on your joints. Also, the kids will love it.
- Swimming works your whole body, improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength, endurance, posture, and flexibility all at the same time. There is also a low risk for injuries because there’s no stress on your bones, muscles or joints due to buoyancy.
- Skipping is not just for kids. It provides a great cardiovascular workout as well as helping to improve endurance and co-ordination. To find the right length, step one foot on the centre of the rope and bring both handles upward. They should reach about chest height.
- Take a hike. On a sunny Saturday, pack a picnic, hop in your car and head to a hilly outskirts of your town or city for a hike. Hiking burns lots of calories, can involve family and friends and provides you with fresh air and beautiful scenery.
- Remember to Stretch. Follow your exercising with stretching exercises to all major muscle groups.
The beauty of working out at home is that you can do it whenever you want throughout the day. The key is to be imaginative and consistent. Once you start to look for ways to workout at home, it becomes easy!
