Did you skip your workout today? With holiday festivities, cooler weather and darker days upon us, getting out of the house to exercise can be an obstacle to staying fit. But just because you’re not eager to rush to the gym doesn’t mean you should abandon your workout altogether.
The good news is, on the days when the comfort and warmth of your bed far outweigh your desire to get out of the house, you can easily do a mini-workout from your bed or couch. Yes, you read that correctly. Even when your feet are up and Netflix is streaming, you can still squeeze in some exercises.
Exercises you can do from your couch
Parked on the couch? No problem. Jaime McFaden, a trainer with Aaptiv, tells SheKnows that there are a number of basic exercises you can do while sitting on the couch. Some of her favorites include: knee tucks, which work the abs, and stretches, like sitting tall, side bends and the forward fold (reach your arms toward your toes and forward fold). You can do all of the stretching exercises on the couch, bed or floor.
Bicep curls with dumbbells or other weighted items (soup cans work!), dips on the couch, step ups on the couch (make sure your couch is not too soft) and push-ups with hands on the firm part of the couch are also great additions to an at-home couch workout, McFaden adds.
Quianna Camper, a certified personal trainer, tells SheKnows that glute bridges and lat air pulls are also great additions to the list of couch exercises.
Exercises you can do from the comfort of your bed
If you’re guilty of hitting the snooze button in the morning, you’re not alone. But rather than falling back to sleep for a few minutes, why not squeeze in a few exercises while you’re still cozy in your pj’s? Here are two moves McFadden says you can easily do in bed.
If you have more time and want to add to the two stretches, Camper recommends lying leg lifts, sit-ups, bicycles, lying knee tucks, a forearm plank, push-ups, plank twists, Spider-Man crunches, single-leg pelvic thrusts, side plank leg raises and, while sitting up, air jabs.
Mini-workouts you can do on the couch or in bed
Ellen Thompson, a Blink Fitness personal trainer, put together a mini-workout you can do on your couch or in bed. For a total-body workout, perform each move 15 times. Rest 30 to 60 seconds and repeat the circuit one to two more times.
Full -body muscle-activation circuit
Superman with row
Muscles activated: rhomboids, lats, glutes
Modified push-up
Muscles activated: pecs, triceps, core
Upper ab crunches
Muscles activated: core
Lower-ab knee tucks
Muscles activated: core
Bridges
Muscles activated: glutes and hamstrings
See, there are plenty of options! The bottom line is this: It’s totally possible to work up a sweat even when you’re not up for a trip to the gym (or even going outside).
Source: Read Full Article