Aerobic Workout. Couch Potato

Transcription

1 Aerobic Workout For The Couch Potato 1

2 Disclaimer All the information presented in this report,, is presented for educational and resource purposes only. It is there to help you make informed decisions about fitness. It is NOT a substitute for any advice given to you by your physician or qualified health care professional. Please understand that you are solely responsible for the way information within this report is perceived and utilized and you do so at your own risk. 2

3 Table of Contents Disclaimer...2 Introduction...4 The Couch Potato Workout...7 Warm Up...7 Exercises...8 Cool Down...10 At Your Desk Routine...11 Office Warm Up...11 Office Exercises...12 Office Cool Down...14 Conclusion

4 Introduction If a plantar fasciitis injury is preventing you from working out, keeping fit or even enjoying a walk, take heart. Experts in aerobic exercise say that you can reap the benefits of an aerobic workout without getting up off your butt. Chair aerobics are designed to give those with mobility problems a good cardio workout without putting strain on the joints or weight pressure on the feet. Chair aerobics appeals to those who have limited mobility or foot injuries, or who have been told that weight bearing and high impact aerobics are out of the question because of arthritis or joint problems. What are the benefits? Better heart function, lower blood pressure, increased circulation, maintaining fitness, heightened alertness, and overall just feeling better, say the experts. Exercise doesn t have to mean going out and jogging or working out at the gym. The whole idea is to get your body moving and your heart pumping and chair aerobics does that as well as anything else. It s the perfect solution if you can t leave your desk or if injuries prevent you from participating in your normal fitness activities. It s also an excellent solution for seniors who may not be as mobile as they once were, but who can benefit from regular exercise. A chair aerobics session includes both leg and upper body exercises and stretches, and often includes the use of workout bands and weights to increase strength and resistance training as the workouts get more intense. 4

5 Don t worry about buying bands and weights. You can substitute towels for the bands and cans, jugs or water bottles for the weights. Jugs and bottles are quite useful as you can fill them with water to various levels which adjusts the weight. Sitting down to exercise may sound silly but the workouts are real and so are the benefits for your cardiovascular system and the rest of your body. There are chair workouts designed for just about everyone including inconspicuous workouts for those in offices who don t want to attract a lot of attention. Generally, a chair aerobics workout starts with a few minutes of stretching and warming up, then moves into an aerobics phase that may include punching the air and doing scissor kicks in your chair before moving into a series of weight lifting exercises or resistance work with bands or towels and finally into a cool down phase. Mary Ann Wilson, whose television fitness show Sit and Be Fit airs on PBS stations across the country, says, Our purpose is to keep people functionally fit as long as possible. To help do this, Wilson leads 30 and 60 minute aerobics workout programs aimed at those who may be mobility impaired. She focuses her workouts on movements that support and strengthen muscles needed for everyday functional movements, including posture control, stretches for flexibility and light weight lifting to build and maintain strength in muscles and joints. 5

6 Wilson has been producing her show since 1987, and she attributes its popularity to the fact that chair aerobics is easy, convenient and inexpensive. There s no expensive equipment needed soup cans or filled water bottles work just fine as weights. Couch potato exercises appeal to those not able to stand, perhaps recovering from an injury. Seniors enjoy the exercises as they don t have to be concerned about losing their balance and falling. Also it provides an alternative fitness activity for those who can t easily leave home to visit a fitness centre. 6

7 The Couch Potato Workout Here s an easy workout to get you started. If you don t like an exercise, skip it. Feel free to add in whatever exercises appeal to you. Anything that keeps you moving is acceptable. If something is too easy and you want more of a workout, increase the intensity with more weight or do more repetitions. You can even add weights around your ankles and wrists. When you first add weights, reduce the number of repetitions. Then build back up. If an exercise is too difficult, reduce the number of repetitions or the weight or skip it entirely. Choose a comfortable, stable chair, preferably without arms so you avoid hitting the chair arms with your elbows. However, if you feel unstable, arms are fine. Since you re sitting, it s best to do the exercises either in stocking feet or barefoot. You ll get a better stretch when doing the foot exercises. Warm Up Sit up straight so you can breathe deeply. Stretch up as if someone was pulling you up by the ears. Inhale and exhale 3 deep breaths. Pump your right arm in the air overhead five times, then the left arm, then both arms together five times. Repeat 2 more times. Next, punch across your body, alternating arms to the count of twenty. To increase the intensity, use hand weights, soup cans or filled water bottles. Get your lower body into the action. Lift one heel at a time and tap your toe on the floor. Alternate feet. Do 10 times for each foot. 7

8 Exercises Time for some leg kicks. Grip the front of the seat of your chair for balance. Now lift your right leg and kick out. Now the left leg. Keep alternating legs. Repeat 20 times. Adding ankle weights will increase the intensity. You can also use a resistance band around the front of your ankle and anchored by the chair. Let s switch to the upper body and do half arm circles. Touch your right shoulder with your right hand fingertips. Elbow pointing out to side away from the body at shoulder level. Start making small circles with the point of your elbow gradually increasing the size of the circle. Then reverse direction starting with small circles again. Switch and repeat with the left arm. Do each side three times. Leg crosses. Scoot down on your chair so you can fully extend your legs. Grip the front edge of your chair for support. Raise both legs slightly off the floor. Cross and uncross them in the air 10 times. Take a break and repeat. 8

9 Grab two weights, bottles or cans that fit nicely in your hands. Or use a resistance band anchored under the seat of your chair. Raise your hands to your shoulders, elbows tucked against your sides. We re going to do a series of three arm movements. First, reach up to the ceiling and back down to the shoulders. Then, reach straight out in front and return to the shoulder position. Next, reach out to the side and back to the starting position at the shoulder. So it s up, front, side, repeat. Do this 10 times or until you re tired. It depends on the weights you re using. Heard of playing the air guitar. Take a ride on a pretend air bicycle. Again, grip the front of the seat of your chair for balance. Just lift your feet and start pedaling as if you were riding a bicycle. Build up to two or three minutes. You ll feel this in the stomach muscles. You can make this more difficult by stretching your legs out in front slightly. Get your weights again. The next exercise is full arm circles. Holding your weights, stretch your arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Start with small circles gradually making them bigger and bigger. Stop and reverse direction starting with the smallest circles. If this seems too easy, increase the weight. Be creative and add in any moves that inspire you. 9

10 Cool Down Stretch out your shoulders by reaching across your body with one arm at shoulder height. Using the opposite hand, press your arm into your body above the elbow. Hold for seconds. Switch and do the other arm. Repeat. This will give your shoulders and back a good stretch. With both hands, grasp the left knee. Now lean forward over that knee and hold for 20 seconds. Still grasping the knee, straighten up as much as you can. This gives the shoulders a good stretch. Hold for another 20 seconds. Switch to the right knee and repeat the stretches. As part of your cool down, stretch out your feet. Make sure to take off your shoes. With your legs straight out and your heels resting on the floor, point your toes and curl them under. Hold for seconds. Repeat two more times. Now flex your feet up bending at the ankle and curling your toes up to a fully flexed position. Again, hold for seconds. Repeat two more times. Altogether, the workout takes about ten minutes. Do it two to three times a day and you ll be hitting the recommended 30 minutes of activity without ever getting off your bottom. Of course, you can extend your routine to 15 minutes and just do it twice. 10

11 At Your Desk Routine Most office s these days have those wonderful ergonomic chairs with lots of adjustments. These are great for normal office work but can be a bit of a challenge for the office workout leg exercises because they swivel. Try leaning one arm on the edge of the desk for balance when doing the lower body exercises. The warm up and cool down are the same as above. I ve included them again so you can just print the office pages to take to work with you. The workout is not as vigorous since you don t want to work so hard that you need a shower. Office Warm Up Sit up straight so you can breathe deeply. Stretch up as if someone was pulling you up by the ears. Inhale and exhale 3 deep breaths. Pump your right arm in the air overhead five times, then the left arm, then both arms together five times. Repeat 2 more times. Next, punch across your body, alternating arms to the count of twenty. To increase the intensity, use filled water bottles. They re the most readily available at the office. 11

12 Get your lower body into the action. It s best to remove your shoes if you can. Lift one heel at a time and tap your toe on the floor. Alternate feet. Do 10 times for each foot. Office Exercises Time for some leg kicks. Grip the front of the seat of your chair for balance or lean on arm on your desk. Now lift your right leg and kick out. Now the left leg. Keep alternating legs. Repeat 20 times. Let s switch to the upper body and do half arm circles. Touch your right shoulder with your right hand fingertips. Start making small circles with the point of your elbow gradually increasing the size of the circle. Then reverse direction starting with small circles again. Switch and repeat with the left arm. Do each side three times. Leg crosses. Scoot down on your chair so you can fully extend your legs. Grip the front edge of your chair for support. Raise both legs slightly off the floor. Cross and uncross them in the air 10 times. Take a break and repeat. This is an isometric exercise. Sitting at your desk, place one hand palm up underneath your desk. Place the other palm down on top of your desk. Press and hold for 10 seconds. Switch hands. Press and hold again for 10 seconds. Repeat two more times.. 12

13 Here s an office exercise that works both the upper body and core at the same time. It assumes you have a chair with casters. Hold your feet up off the floor. Push yourself away from your desk. Keeping the feet up, now pull yourself towards your desk. Do 3 repetitions. Take a break and repeat. You could take a tip from this gal and trade in your chair for an exercise ball. It s great for posture and core strengthening. 13

14 Office Cool Down Stretch out your shoulders by reaching across your body with one arm at shoulder height. Using the opposite hand, press your arm into your body above the elbow. Hold for seconds. Switch and do the other arm. Repeat. This will give your shoulders and back a good stretch. With both hands, grasp the left knee. Now lean forward over that knee and hold for 20 seconds. Still grasping the knee, straighten up as much as you can. This gives the shoulders a good stretch. Hold for another 20 seconds. Switch to the right knee and repeat the stretches. As part of your cool down, stretch out your feet. Make sure to take off your shoes. With your legs straight out and your heels resting on the floor, point your toes and curl them under. Hold for seconds. Repeat two more times. Now flex your feet up bending at the ankle and curling your toes up to a fully flexed position. Again, hold for seconds. Repeat two more times. 14

15 Conclusion Now you ve done your workout, have a drink of water and relax. Perhaps put your feet up. Enjoy the exhilaration and energy. Pay attention to your posture, when you re sitting or standing. Maintaining your posture is strengthening your core. Also, proper posture helps prevent osteoporosis by keeping muscles and joints strong enough to support the bones. The first two cool down exercises for the feet are great for stretching the plantar ligaments on the bottom of the foot. If you suffer from plantar fasciitis, do these stretches before getting out of bed in the morning or any time you ve been sitting for an extended period of time. They will help alleviate any discomfort. That s it. Hope you found the aerobic workout for couch potatoes fun and useful. 15