Most of us exercise at the gym, or go out running or cycling, but what happens to your fitness and workouts when it rains? Overflowing drains hold even the most motivated among us hostage at home, and it's only a matter of time before lethargy sets in and fitness takes a break for the monsoon. Today, we're telling you that there is an option. Arnav Sarkar, our fitness expert helps you stay in shape without stepping out - right here, in the comfort of your home. Follow these exercises to maintain your fitness and health through the showers this rainy season.
For warm ups, stretching is the answer. But stretching is more than just that. Sarkar elaborates, “Flexibility is fully one third of a balanced physical fitness program (you already know the other two - cardio and strength training). Stretching not only feels wonderful, but also helps in reducing stress and muscle tension along with increasing blood circulation by making your muscles longer and leaner.
If you’re looking to strengthen your upper body, Sarkar suggests you try out: Push ups, military press, handstand, dumbbell/barbell rows, arm curls and extensions with dumbbell/barbell.
Remember to start each workout with a 7-10 minute warm up session. Remember that your muscles strengthen when you finish exercising. So allow adequate rest in between workouts that target the same muscle groups.
The core is an essential area to focus on during exercise. This is the body part that keeps you upright, enables stability and balance. Most people forget that the core includes the lower back as well, and take it to mean that it simply involves the stomach. However, the core is as much about your back as it is about the front.
We use our lower back muscles without knowing it, hence it is important to maintain the fitness in the lower back. Excellent exercises for this are: Bodyweight squats, Goblet squats, Lunges (with or without dumbbells), Romanian deadlifts, Glute bridges, wall sit and split squats. All these can be done indoors without a gym.
Now, let's move on to the front of your core - the most important organ of the body that expands when you don’t want it to bloat, the stomach. Here are a few suggestions to shape up: Crunches, reverse crunches, Turkish get ups, Dumbbell windmill, plank holds, side bends with dumbbell and v-sit ups.
You might have heard the phrase 'engage your core' on several occassions, in fitness magazines and from any good trainer. This essentially means that when you perform any exercise you need to tense your core - front and back - into a steady position that follows your breathing. For example, when you lift a weight, you must tighten your core and use that tightness to push the weight away from your body. While you do this, you need to exhale. On the other hand, when you drop the weight once the pushing is complete, to resume the starting position, you need to inhale.
This engagement is crucial and will hold you in good stead even if you have no equipment to workout with at home. Most boxers, for instance, rely on the good old bodyweight exercises like push ups, squats, and sit ups for a full body workout.
Speaking of boxers, the next set of exercises will take you back to the days of Rocky and Rambo. Sarkar suggests skipping rope cardio workouts but says “It should be avoided if you have bad knees or feet problems. Go for circuit training, kickboxing and high repetition bodyweight training.”
But if you don't suffer from any such lower body issues, then skipping can be a great cardio workout for you.
For warm ups, stretching is the answer. But stretching is more than just that. Sarkar elaborates, “Flexibility is fully one third of a balanced physical fitness program (you already know the other two - cardio and strength training). Stretching not only feels wonderful, but also helps in reducing stress and muscle tension along with increasing blood circulation by making your muscles longer and leaner.
If you’re looking to strengthen your upper body, Sarkar suggests you try out: Push ups, military press, handstand, dumbbell/barbell rows, arm curls and extensions with dumbbell/barbell.
Remember to start each workout with a 7-10 minute warm up session. Remember that your muscles strengthen when you finish exercising. So allow adequate rest in between workouts that target the same muscle groups.
The core is an essential area to focus on during exercise. This is the body part that keeps you upright, enables stability and balance. Most people forget that the core includes the lower back as well, and take it to mean that it simply involves the stomach. However, the core is as much about your back as it is about the front.
We use our lower back muscles without knowing it, hence it is important to maintain the fitness in the lower back. Excellent exercises for this are: Bodyweight squats, Goblet squats, Lunges (with or without dumbbells), Romanian deadlifts, Glute bridges, wall sit and split squats. All these can be done indoors without a gym.
Now, let's move on to the front of your core - the most important organ of the body that expands when you don’t want it to bloat, the stomach. Here are a few suggestions to shape up: Crunches, reverse crunches, Turkish get ups, Dumbbell windmill, plank holds, side bends with dumbbell and v-sit ups.
You might have heard the phrase 'engage your core' on several occassions, in fitness magazines and from any good trainer. This essentially means that when you perform any exercise you need to tense your core - front and back - into a steady position that follows your breathing. For example, when you lift a weight, you must tighten your core and use that tightness to push the weight away from your body. While you do this, you need to exhale. On the other hand, when you drop the weight once the pushing is complete, to resume the starting position, you need to inhale.
This engagement is crucial and will hold you in good stead even if you have no equipment to workout with at home. Most boxers, for instance, rely on the good old bodyweight exercises like push ups, squats, and sit ups for a full body workout.
Speaking of boxers, the next set of exercises will take you back to the days of Rocky and Rambo. Sarkar suggests skipping rope cardio workouts but says “It should be avoided if you have bad knees or feet problems. Go for circuit training, kickboxing and high repetition bodyweight training.”
But if you don't suffer from any such lower body issues, then skipping can be a great cardio workout for you.
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