Ways to sneak in exercise throughout your day without much effort…(1)

On computer a lot?  Make your body move, burn calories, tone up those muscles, with not much of an effort; well at least your brain won’t think so, because while you are engaging your brain playing games, chatting with friends, reading my blog 🙂 , your body will be engaging in getting fit.  Give it a try. You may find you enjoy it.  And frankly, your body will thank you, and so will everyone watching you walk around in those cute jeans!  Here’s what you do: Find a tall surface like a bar, kitchen countertop, or a desk made for standing.  You don’t even need a tall surface.  As I am typing this; (I’m at my desk.)  I simply pushed my chair out of the way and am doing side to side leg lifts.  I don’t bother counting repetitions.  I go back and forth from leg to leg until the muscles burn and then I take about a twenty-second break and do it again.   As you surf the net you can be walking in place, doing squats, kick backs, or side to side leg lifts.  You can work more than just your legs; try bicep curls, triceps kick backs, shoulder raises, shoulder presses…the exercises you can do while you peruse the net is almost limitless.  So get off your butt and get moving.  If you need more hints on the exercises you can do, shoot me a comment, or just look out for more posts.  Here’s to being sneaky…sneaking in exercises, burning calories, getting fitter, feeling good! Wishing you great health! Koko

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Stay Fit! A series of articles/tips on keeping in shape.

BREATHING

I get it; we are busy people.  It’s hard to get a workout in.  You have work inside the home, outside the home, and constant projects to do, and well, the list goes on.  Getting a half hour to ourselves to workout in these busy times can be difficult, try for an hour, impossible!  So I got to thinking, how can I get fit/stay fit when I’m so busy?  Well my friends, this is how I do it…

Tips and ideas on how to stay fit throughout your day.  Ways to sneak in exercise in between all that we do!  (I will be continuously posting on this subject.  Be sure to stop by often to check out the new tips.)

1. Breathing.  Ironic how something that directly affects our lives is often neglected, but one of the easiest things to fix.  It’s the most important exercise you can do, at least to me it is.  Most of us need to train our lungs.  We need to teach them to breathe correctly.  How’s your breathing now?  Is it short quick breaths?  Do you find yourself holding your breath?  Is your breath shallow?  Breathing is something we must do (derrr), and if we do it right, there are many benefits we can gain from it.  Better oxygen flow is the best reason.  Our bodies just work better with good oxygen flow.

Good diaphragm breathing is the key.  Lay on your back and breathe.  Put your hand on your chest/tummy, if you feel it going up and down, you are breathing correctly from your diaphragm.  If you are just filling the chest area; almost as if your shoulders move too, then you are only taking in air in the upper part of your lungs.  Good diaphragm breathing is utilizing your entire lung area.

Good breathing engages the lymphatic system.  This systems protects the body from infections, diseases, and bacteria.  (Three cheers for the lymphatic system, hooray-hooray-hooray!) The lymphatic system is an efficient trap.  It snares all the bad garbage the environment throws at us, ie. toxins; ewwww.  When we deep breathe, it signals the lymphatic system to do its job.  By carrying out good deep breathing techniques we are helping our system to “get to work”.

Another great reason for deep breathing is to help with stress.  Sometimes when we come across stressful situations, or times when we are especially anxious we take in shallow breaths which make us hyperventilate.  We subconsciously breathe in short quick breaths, when what we really need to do, is calm our inner self by deep breathing.  When you feel particularly anxious, stressed-out, or something is just ticking you off, take a moment and breathe.  Deep breathing will help you slow that out of control heartbeat and to focus so that your mind can unfog and you can regain your balance within yourself.

If you are feeling a bit sluggish, check your breathing.  Sometimes we don’t realize we are taking in shallow breaths, making us feel worn out.  Shallow breathing is as if you are starving your body from the fuel it needs to keep going.  Oxygen is like its gas.  So come on folks, give it some gas, no not the cruciferous kind, OXYGEN, in the form of good proper breathing techniques.

Take three minutes a day to practice good breathing techniques.  Try first thing in the morning before you get out of bed; that way you can feel your tummy move up and down and the burst of oxygen will give you the stamina to tackle your day!  Here’s to your health!