Jan
19
Written by:
KiwiFit
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:08:38 GMT
It would be lovely if we could always find an extra half an hour to an hour in the day to fit in a good workout, and it is ideal to plan that into your day at least five days per week. Regular exercise is an absolutely essential part of a healthy lifestyle.
However here are a couple of strategies to consider when you do find yourself short of time short but want to follow through on your commitment to creating a healthy body.
When is comes to cardiovascular exercise, instead of focussing on how long you exercise for, focus on increasing the intensity. It doesn’t matter what activity you choose, but just aim to get your heart rate up as high as possible and then hold it there for as long as you can. Instead of just going for an easy walk, you could either include some jogging or running intervals, or find a walking area with some hills to challenge you. If you have stairs at home, use them for stair runs, or go up and down as many times as you can two steps at a time. Other ideas include skipping or doing jumping jacks. Include some active rest periods when you need to, and then raise the intensity again. This strategy allows you to workout for a shorter time but still burn plenty of calories and gives your heart a great workout. Twenty minutes of intense training like this is a great option.
In terms of strength training, it is possible with a bit of creativity to include many of the major muscle groups in just a few compound exercises (exercises that use more than one muscle group at a time) combined into a circuit. Exercises to choose from could include squats, lunges and good old fashioned press ups. So if you are time short and you want to ensure you get an effective workout, make sure you work as hard as you can in the time available
Many people fall into a way of thinking that exercise is just about weight loss and appearance, but it is not. Even on your busiest and most stressful days take some time to exercise, acknowledge and nurture your body and spirit for just a short time. You will be so glad that you did.
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