HOUSTON
Ryan says multitasking workouts are great for burning extra calories while accomplishing your daily tasks. By doing this you could easily burn a few hundred extra calories. Ryan says, the best way to burn fat is through overall metabolic stimulus and demand during a workout, which means doing these exercises in circuits with little to no rest or recovery.
Office Exercises:
Ab Bracing while having great posture on the edge of your office chair or on an exercise ball
Take the stairs at work. Do split squats on the last stair, once you reach the level you are going to.
Paperweight or Water Bottle Triceps Overhead Extensions while on the phone. Remember to embrace pacing because a Mayo Clinic study found that people who fidget move 152 minutes longer per day than sedentary folk. That translates to burning an additional 350 calories a day!
Home Exercises:
Add resistance when cleaning to create a heavier load. Like wear a back pack/book bag. It looks funny, but it works.
1) Carolyn Barnes "Rag Drag" which are like Side Lunges or Slides on Exercise Disks. This is a cardio based exercise for your inner and outer thighs and core. This is awesome for cleaning your hard surface floors, but you can also do this multitasking cardio workout while you give your kids a bath, folding laundry, or doing your dishes.
a. How to do it:
- Get 2 damp/dry rags, and place one under each foot. (if you are cleaning your floors, use whatever cleaner works for you.)
- Keep your legs shoulder width apart and get into a squat position, keeping your glutes squeezed, back straight, and abs braced.
- Next take the right leg, (it doesn't matter what leg), and bring it in and out 10 times cleaning the floors, alternate legs and do the same with your left leg. I like to do this for at least 10-12 minutes, to really make the most out of it. Note, the harder you press down the more you will work your body, and clean your floors.
2) Squats while washing windows
3) Lunges and/or hip twists while using the vacuum cleaner
4) Pickup chair or sofa to vacuum underneath
5) Calf Raises while washing the dishes or brushing your teeth
6) Bath Tub Dips
Here are some other tips for making housework/office job duties a workout:
Put on some music you like, this will help you pick up speed while you clean and multi-task
Whenever you're doing chores, tighten your abs. Bracing your abs will allow you to work your abs the whole time and will allow your glutes to keep pointed pressure off the lower back.
Strive for large up-and-down movements. When cleaning a shower door, for example, make big circles.
Carry heavy baskets of laundry or supplies up the stairs, if your conditioning allows, jog or walk fast up and down the stairs.
Do lunges while vacuuming (keep toes pointed straight ahead, and don't bend your knees further than 90 degrees). You'll feel it in your thighs.
Never lift anything by leaning over! Bend your knees instead. Never lean over to clean a toilet, either, squat or kneel on one knee.
Do squats and hip bridges during commercial breaks and daily breaks at work
Stand up and talk on the phone. Pace while on phone conferences and walk around the office a couple times a day to also network and say hello to your colleagues. Brace your abs and sit on a Ball instead of a chair at your office desk.
While even the most intensely calorie-burning chores can't replace structured exercise completely, every little bit of activity helps. Along with the fitness benefits are added dividends: A cleaner house, a beautiful yard, and a sense of satisfaction.
Thanks to:
Ryan Kobermann, CSCS ESN Health: esn-online.com
Rhonda Kaiser, Refine Your Room: refineyourroom.com
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