MONTREAL- When the Lifetime Segment first started, we spent a couple of weeks providing some suggestions for ways to incorporate physical activity into your day literally one step at a time. We challenged you to find ways to add more exercise to your lifestyle using strategies like taking the stairs, and doing simple exercises during commercials or while watching your favourite television programs. Now that you have done so, and hopefully started to be a little more active, we thought it would be good to give you some challenging yet effective home-based exercises using nothing but common household objects. This way, you don't need to spend money on fancy gym equipment to continue to get in shape. The weather is getting nicer out, and soon most of our exercise and play can be done in the great outdoors. Until the ice and snow are gone, and puddles have dried up, try doing the exercises provided here (and shown on the videos on the segment) every two to three days. All you need is a broom, some food cans, and some laundry detergent. Bottom line, take the time to let your muscles work a little after being cooped up under down coats and tights for the last few months.
Your challenge, for the next two weeks, is to do some strength training exercises for the larger muscles in your body – twice a week is all it takes to meet Canada's strength training guidelines. And you don't have to leave your home to do it!
Three exercises for beginners
Exercise 1: Warm-up Leg Raises.
Grab a broom and hold in both hands (hands about shoulder-width apart), about mid-torso to hip level in front of you. Stand tall, and keep your abdominal muscles tight. Bring your right knee up to touch the broom (or just below it) - holding the broom gives you a target to reach with your knees. Repeat with other leg, and continue to repeat from one leg to the other for 25 to 50 times. Caveat: If you are worried about your balance, you can hold on to the back of chair with one hand and bring your opposite knee up to be in line with a landmark on the chair that is appropriate (e.g., the seat, mid-point or top of the back of the chair). Repeat with the same leg 10-15 times before switching sides.
Modification for advanced exercisers: Run on the spot while holding the broom as a target to get your knees up high.
Exercise 2: Wall Squats using cans to do arm curls and raises.
Lean on the wall ensuring that your upper back and lower back are against the wall. Place your feet further in front of you at hip width apart, lower yourself so that your knees are at a 90-degree angle (no lower than that) and your knees do not go over your toes. Ensure that your knees are inline with your toes. If this is too challenging, raise yourself up so that you are not sitting as low. This exercise is timed for 30 to 60 second blocks, repeated 3 times. To add upper-body exercise, we suggest you do bicep curls and arm raises with soup cans. Start by keeping your shoulder blades against the wall, and your arms to the wall, palms facing up while holding soup can. Bend your elbows and slowly raise the soup cans towards your shoulders, and then slowly lower. From this lowered position, turn your palms down and keeping your elbows straight but not locked, raise the soup cans up to shoulder level and lower. Turn arms so palms are facing forward, and repeat with bicep curl. Repeat this sequence during the wall squat.
Modification for advanced exercisers: Wall squat at 90 degrees – every 30 seconds lift one foot off the floor and raise in front for 30 seconds. Repeat with other leg. Continue with arm exercises throughout for full body workout.
Exercise 3: Plank using a Stationary Ottoman (or couch)
Begin by getting down on the floor and standing on your knees facing your ottoman. From this position, place your elbows close to the edge of the ottoman and straighten your legs behind you. You should be up on your elbows. Make sure your elbows are right under your shoulders, and your back is straight, resembling a plank (a piece of wood). You should be on your toes. Keeping your abdominals strong and contracted hold this for as long as you can (ideally, this should be a timed exercise for 10, 20, 30, to 60 seconds). Caveat: make sure the object you are leaning on is stationary and will not move out from under you.
Modification for advanced exercisers: While in the plank position, raise one leg up (keeping it straight) and lower slowly. While raising your leg, keep your abdominals tight and your hips straight (facing the floor). Repeat with other leg.
Four advanced exercises
Exercise 1: Warm-ups doing Side Ssteps over a Stool
Stand to the left of a stool with both feet together. Raise right foot across and over the stool to the floor to the right of the stool. Without stopping, bring your left foot over and across the stool. Repeat for a total of 25. For variation: use a bar stool and swing your legs over (will require more straight leg lifts to clear the bar stool).
Modification for beginners: Use the lines on your floor or carpet to step over. Start slowly and then pick up the pace to get your heart beating faster.
Exercise 2: Warm-up or added Cardio with Jumping Jacks using Cans
Stand with your arms at your sides and your feet close together, facing forward. Hold your head straight. Grasp soup/sauce cans (or similar object that you can hold on to) in each hand at our sides. Bend your knees. Jump up while spreading your arms and legs at the same time. Lift your arms to well-above your shoulders and open your feet to a little wider than shoulder width. As you return from jumping up bring your arms back down to your sides and at the same time bring your feet back together. This should all be done quickly and fluidly. Repeat 25 to 50 times, or for a specified time (e.g., 2 minutes). Variation: If you do not hold on to an object, you can touch your hands (clap) above your head.
Modification for beginners: Jumping jacks without cans or added weight
Exercise 3: Lunges using Laundry Detergent Jugs
Stand with detergent bottles (or any other bottle with a good hand grip) grasped to sides. Step forward with first leg, with this lead knee pointing in the same direction as the foot. Land on heel then forefoot. Lower body by bending knee and hip of front leg until knee of rear leg is almost in contact with floor. Stand up on forward leg. Lunge forward with opposite leg. Repeat by alternating lunge with opposite legs. Keep torso upright during lunge. A long lunge (longer step) works your large butt muscles whereas a shorter step/lunge emphasizes your front leg muscles. This exercise also works your stabilizing muscles in your core and lower legs. Try doing 20 to 30 per leg. Variation: Use heavier or lighter bottles as desired. Remember to keep your bottles once they are finished and then you can fill them with water, sand, or rocks to create your own resistance training equipment.
Modification for beginners: This exercise is great without any added weight!
Exercise 4: Sit-ups using Laundry Detergent Jugs
Place a detergent jug or a heavier product bottle (make sure it is closed properly!) and place it on the floor. Sit down beside the bottle on a carpet or fold a towel in half (for thickness) with your knees at a 90 degree angle. Raise your feet off the ground with your knees still bent and lean back with your upper torso just enough to create a "V" from your knees to your head. You want to make sure you keep your head and neck straight, and your shoulders back and chest out. Once you have found your balance in this position and can hold it, lower your feet and take the detergent bottle in both hands (you will be twisted to the side to reach the bottle with both hands). Return to the modified "V" position by raising your feet and leaning back, keeping your shoulders back, and twist while lifting the bottle and moving it first to the center and then to the other side of your body. You want to touch the detergent bottle on the ground on the opposite side you started with, and bring back to center using your abdominal muscles. Pause in the center position and then twist to the original side and touch the detergent bottle the ground. Repeat as many times as you can (25? 50?).
Modification for beginners: Do this exercise with a soup can, and without raising your feet off the ground (keep knee bent but feet on the floor).
Other household exercises:
Calf raises on the stairs: This exercise should be done wearing shoes or bare foot (NOT in socks!). Stand with the pads of your feet (the balls or the front of your foot) on the stair, and your heels hanging off the stair. Keep your back straight, shoulders a back and look forward. Holding onto the banister or wall, lower your heels and raise up on your toes. Repeat. Variation: to make this more challenging, only do one leg at time while holding the other foot up.
Push-ups on the couch or wall: This is your regular push-up but either standing at a wall and pushing out from the wall (easier) or resting your hands on the couch and doing your push-up from this position.
Leg raises while seated at desk or couch: While seated, simply straighten one leg slowly so that foot is just below the knee (do not hyperextend the knee) and lower. Repeat with other leg. Variation: If you do this exercise with pointed toes, you will work the front lower leg muscles, and if you do this with your toes up, you will work the back lower leg muscles. Additional variation is to lift your straight leg off the chair after raising your foot.
I'd love to hear your own household exercises! Write to us and let us know what you do for exercise in and around your home.
GENERAL TIPS:
- Do your exercises at a slow to moderate pace. It's not a race.
- Make sure you have good technique. At the point where your technique starts to suffer is when you should stop. The guidelines for the amount of seconds to do each exercise are there as goals.
- Make sure you are breathing! It seems silly, but many of us tend to hold our breath when we exercise.
Note: Thanks to Tala Bessette, 2nd year PhD student in the Health Behaviour and Emotion Lab at McGill University, for her help with this week's segment.
Dr. Catherine Sabiston will be our guest every second Monday on the Noon news with tips and advice on diet, exercise, and the perennial roadblocks to getting in shape.
She and her students will also be answering your health, fitness, and psychological questions to help give you an edge in meeting your goals.
To ask a question send an email to lifetimemontreal@ctv.ca.
