Leading an active lifestyle can lower one’s risk of getting prone to many diseases that can lead to early death. Fitting a regular exercise regimen into your daily life may seem like a herculean task if you have been a couch potato so far. Starting with 10 minutes of light exercise every day, you can be on track. Below are 10 simple women workouts aimed at women wellbeing; that are less time consuming and aimed at working women.
The below exercise tips segregated into exercises that can be carried out at home and exercise tips to remain active at work are sure to take care of your not-so-lovely love handles!
1. The Body Crunch
The body crunch exercise is aimed at improving muscle strength and flexibility. Lie down flat on your back, tighten your abdominal muscles and lift your head and shoulders upward. Alternate this with lifting your legs and hip upward. Crunches help strengthen the mid and lower extremities of your body.
2. Wide-stance Squat & Arm Swing
Also called as the sumo squat swing this exercise is aimed at toning inner thigh muscles increasing muscular strength and endurance throughout the legs. Stand with your feet a little wider than your shoulder width, toes pointed at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock position. Grasp a dumbbell or a kettle bell with both hands, stretch your arms straight; lift the weight to shoulder height as you lower into a squat. Lower the weight as you return to standing position.
3. Treadmill
Treadmill is one of the most effective workouts out there since running or walking aims at full body exercise. Running on a treadmill generally burns calories faster than most of the in-home exercise forms. You can keep track of step counts and calories burnt while watching your morning news. Studies show treadmill has helped people burn more calories than riding bikes.
4. Skip Your Way to an Active Lifestyle
Skipping was a favourite game as children and now it is time to skip down the memory lane and enjoy some joyful skipping time. 10 minutes of skipping can burn 135 calories while sculpting your shoulders, chest, arms, legs and love handles. The length of an ideal rope should not go beyond your armpits from the center of the rope.
5. Spend Some Mind-Body Exercise Time
Yoga, Pilates, and tai chi are examples of “mind-body” fitness, as they emphasize both physical and mental strength. Teaching you how to move your body and focus your mind; these exercises help to keep you from putting on the bad weight, keep high blood pressure at bay and improve sleep. During a 3-month study, people doing yoga lowered both their LDL (bad) cholesterol and their triglycerides more than 12 points.
6. Brisk Walk to Work
When you absolutely have no time for exercises at home, it pays to get down a few blocks away from your office and brisk walk to your office. Swing your arms while you walk to tone those arms as well. With all the benefits associated with brisk walking, you don’t want to miss out on all this by taking a taxi all the way to your office door do you?!
7. Take the Stairs Instead of the Elevator
Turn your staircase into an all time fat burning apparatus. Avoid fancy elevators and escalators wherever possible to get a free dose of cardiovascular exercises. Walking the stairs for half an hour can burn 286 calories; which is roughly equivalent to walking at 3.5 mph for two full hours! Studies show taking one step at a time burns more calories.
8. Take Breaks to Stretch
If your work requires you to be glued to your seat 9 hours in a day, it becomes mandatory to take appropriate breaks to ensure you don’t end up getting as stiff as a cardboard! It could be a trip to the conference room to stretch those lazy muscles or a short walk to an open space to get some fresh air. Keep moving around to beat the monotony of work and to get some well deserved exercise.
9. Turn Down Dialing Extension
A great way to keep yourself on the go is to avoid dialing extensions and mails for someone sitting a few cubicles away from your place. Make the trip in person to convey your message. This not only gives you a reason to move around but also helps to build interpersonal relationships at work!
10. Squat to Your Chair Level
Tighten your abs (and keep them tight) as you bend your knees. Keep your arms stretched as you slowly squat down until your buttocks are hovering barely above the chair. Make sure not to sit down on the chair. Remain in that position for 10 seconds before you straighten up. This exercise tones your abs, arms & legs.
