fit fitness in.

So I always hear people say "I don't have time to work out." Well, I've given my rant on that before, so instead I'll provide some helpful tips to fit fitness into your regularly scheduled day...

Let's take a poll: How many of you watch tv? If there are some sort of saints reading this, that in fact, don't... Well more power to you, but this girl loves her shows. So now that we've all admitted we have our weekly or nightly (I'm not judging) addictions, let's answer question number two. How many hours worth of it do you watch? So you calculate Real Housewives is an hour and then you multiply by, let's see there's one-two-three-four-five-si... Six cities. So that equals... You get my point. Maybe the housewives franchise makes you vomit, and you're into more intellectual programs. Whatever; History Channel or Bravo, twenty minutes or eight hours; if you have time for tv, you have time for exercise. Before you throw your bonbons at me and declare you're not sacrificing your chill time; relax and get your priorities straight, I have a compromise. Work out WHILE you watch. Yeah, I know right? Crazy concept. I'd say do it during commercials, but I think a good majority of you probably reading this on a smart phone of sorts probably have the technology to fast forward them (no offense if not.) So here are some moves you can do in the comfort and ease of your living room while getting your Netflix fix.

With any of the following moves, I personally do 25 reps of each (since none of them are heavy weight, it's okay to do more reps) in a circuit and repeat the circuit as many times as I want watch. Make sure you focus on quality over quantity though, and stay engaged in what you're doing, if you're only doing things half cocked because you're not paying enough attention, it can be very ineffective, and more importantly you could injure yourself. So try to balance the focus of your workout and your watching. I'm listing several different exercises, which I pick and choose from to mix up the order and create circuits. You can totally customize your routine with any of these and many other moves. Here are some great examples...

Got a couch? Great. Start by aiming your face at the boob tube, then use your seat apparatus to do tricep dips off of.

Abs, abs, and more abs. So my first suggestion here is to throw away those previously mentioned Bonbons. After that, throw done a yoga mat, towel, or bareback the floor and get to abbin'. There are literally hundreds of ab exercise varieties, I'm sure you know a few. If not, I'll be creating something awesome for you soon. you can easily find some suggestions in a fitness/health magazine or YouTube some tutorials. Most can be easily done with zero equipment, confined space, and a view of your television. Bonus points if your tv is in the ceiling. 

 

Okay, so how many of you do laundry? Please leave my blog now if you answered no. Great, so assuming you use liquid detergent in a rather large container, you've got yourself some 'weights'. If you do actually own dumb bells or weights of sorts, by all means use them, but if you need to depend on Dawny to keep your clothes fresh and your arms toned, you do it. Obviously, the fuller the better. Grab yo suds by the handle and use for tricep kickbacks, bicep curls, kettle ball swings, overhead swings, etcetera.

Now take a seat, ah ah ah, not on your actual couch, but an imaginary one. It's time to squat. If you've got weights, use them. You can also incorporate your soap weight here, or any other creative household product. Buttt, see what I did there you can effectively do this without anything but your body weight and resistance. Try regular squats and add some pulsing reps, plié squats full and pulses, Hindu squats, split leg squats, side squats, lunges, and wall sits. Again, there's a large variety to mix it up with. 

Now throw in some good ole fashion push-ups and planks for good measure. 

As you can see, there are plenty (and I could've kept going), exercises you can easily do while watching tv. They require zero equipment or can easily be substituted with things you already have, they don't require too much space, and most importantly you can actually finish a Law & Order marathon without feeling guilty that you weren't running an actual marathon. 

And for extra credit...

"Raise your calves, if you are strong!"

I really hope you sang that to the tune of P!nk. When you're making a meal; whether it be prepping and cooking a full on feast, in which case you could fit a lot in, or even just zapping something in the microwave for a few moments; do calf raises. When you're brushing your teeth, taking a shower, styling your hair; do calf raises. I don't advise doing them while applying makeup, unless you're some sort of pro, I imagine that would end very messy. hah. When you're standing in line somewhere; do calf raises. Don't let anyone with less attractive calves give you odd looks either, you're making every moment count. Though I always encourage the stairs if they're an option, if you must take the elevator; do calf raises on your ride. So basically, you understand you can fit this simple, compact move into a lot of your daily habits. For extra nerdy points: count how many you do and you can make personal goals of how many you can fit in a day.

I, personally make time for workouts in the gym for strength training with weights, or I make time to get in cardio, but the above are things I add to that for the extra effort, and it DOES make a difference.

 

For the more committed ones of you who'd like to know, my workouts in the gym or cardio time are anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, tops. So even if you're going full out at the gym, an hour is plenty of time to accomplish great things. That's sixty minutes people. You can make it work. Here's what I got done in twenty-two minutes...

That's 500 calories burned by sprints in 22 minutes.

So there you have it, my in depth examples of fitting fitness into your day. Your excuses are now invalid; get to sweating people.(:

ps. workout regimen coming soon!(;...