01/14

Exercises So You Can Work It Out at Home

Something that I am so, so, so passionate about is fitness and staying active, no matter what time of year it is. We’ve just ended a holiday season full of heavy eating and drinking, leading many, many, many people to set New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and get active. Sometimes, though, the excuses get the best of us. “It’s too cold outside,” “I have too many errands to run today,” “I can’t find time to workout,” or my personal favorite, “All my gym clothes are dirty.”

Well ladies and gents, love me or hate me for it, I’m here with an answer to all those statements. I researched exercises that you can do no matter where you are! You know what this means! No more excuses.

Glutes:

Lightly put your hands on top of the chair in front of you. Create two 90 degree angles with your legs; keep your front knee over your front ankle, and your back knee in line with your hip. Tuck your back toes under and hover your back knee off the floor about 2 inches. Using mainly your leg muscles, pulse down an inch and up an inch. Remember to squeeze glutes!

Do 20 reps then switch your legs, and repeat.

For more of a challenge, hover your hands about an inch above the chair.

Hips, Butt & Calves:

Firmly grasp the chair in front of you. Try to stay on your toes the whole time if you can. Keep the toes of your raised leg in line with the opposite knee of standing leg. Rotate the knee of raised leg out to the side, then back in, as close to center as possible. Do 10 reps, then repeat on opposite leg.

Thighs:

With a chair in front of you, lightly put your hands on top of the chair. Try not to grip the chair too much; this will allow you to use more of your core and thighs. Stand on your tippy toes in second position (toes a couple inches apart) with your toes and heels touching. Bend your knees and squat up and down; *only raise and lower 1 inch up and 1 inch down. The key is small, precise movements. Remember to squeeze glutes throughout exercise. Do 15 reps.

Stay tuned – next week I’ll share my fav, fav, fav workouts for abs, lower back, and triceps.