Hey there! Are you trying to get in shape but legitimately don’t have the time in your day? That’s completely okay, because it turns out you can get in shape by doing some of these really quick at-home exercises in the small pockets of time between daily tasks. Experts recommend working out for forty five minutes to an hour every day, but you can break that time up into segments of ten, or even five. Here are some great, quick and easy workouts you can incorporate into your day:
- Five to ten minutes of jumping jacks. Ten minutes of jumping jacks can burn up to 90 calories.
- Get on the treadmill for five minutes only. It makes a difference!
- When you wake up in the morning, take a fast-paced five-minute walk around the block.
Do this again before you go to sleep at night.
- While waiting for water to boil, a bath to fill up, or someone to call you back, use the time to do push ups. You can also do stand-up pushups by positioning an arm’s length away from a counter and pushing your arms against it. Pushing in and out just ten times will contribute to toned arms and shoulders.
- Keep some three to five pound weights on your bathroom sink. Do a series of bicep curls before you brush your teeth, and a series of tricep extensions afterwards.
- In the middle of your day, take a ten minute break to engage in fun physical activity. Depending on what you like to do, you may want to shoot some hoops, dance around your room, jump rope, or get silly and play tag with a friend, roommate, child, or significant other. Anything that sounds like fun to you is a good choice.
- When you’re watching TV and a commercial comes on, instead of fast-forwarding, take advantage of the time by jogging in place for five minutes. This can burn up to 45 calories. Jog in place at every commercial and you could burn 180 calories or more depending on how long you’re indulging in TV time.
- TV time is also a good opportunity to do leg lifts and sit ups.
- If you have stairs in your home or building, use them as often as possible. If you find yourself in a building with stairs and an elevator, never use the elevator.
- Whenever your phone rings, use it as a reminder to do some basic stretches.
- No matter what you’re doing, you can strengthen your abs by contracting the muscles around your belly button and imagine that you’re stretching the muscles beneath your belly button into a smile. Remember to always stand up straight!
Fitting a full hour workout into your day can be hard or even impossible, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it all together. Working out for any amount of time, no matter how short, is better than not at all. Remember, it all adds up! When you exercise in tiny intervals throughout the day, you’ll notice changes in your body just as surely as if you did the full hour exercise in one piece.