Rise and Exercise

Archive for the ‘Exercise Ideas’ Category

What are some of your most common excuses for not exercising? If you are like most people, you probably think you don’t have enough time. While you may not have much time, you do have some of it, 24 hours each day in fact. What you think you don’t have is free time. What you are really saying is that other things are more important to you than your health.

So how can you still exercise without taking up much time so you still have plenty of it for the fun things you value more than your health? Here are some exercises you can do to get in some kind of workout without taking much time at all.
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If you’re having consistent and debilitating back pain, you may want to consider exercises that can relieve the cause of your malady. Because the spine is such a critical aspect of human health, you want to take every precaution to keep it in good condition. Too commonly, people experience lumbar discomfort and turn to extreme stretches and exercises that only cause further damage. Be sure to follow these exercises and their guidelines to relieve many types of back pain and bring you greater health.
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The spine is one of the most complicated and important pieces in the human body, with only a little skin protecting it from the outside world, we have to keep it together using only our muscles. If there is one vertebrate out of place everyone within your immediate proximity will be able to see that something is not quite right. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Halloween RiseAndExercise.com Readers! Just because it’s a candy filled holiday, don’t think that means you get to skip out on your exercise for the day! Try out this Quick Full Body Workout before the kiddies start arriving!

Enjoy the holiday and don’t forget to Rise and Exercise this Halloween!

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Losing weight has become an obsession for some people. If they’re carrying a couple of extra pounds, they may go to extremes to get rid of it, and that’s not healthy. Going on a crash diet or exercising until you drop may shed some pounds, but your overall health may suffer if you do. The best way to lose weight is to do it gradually–cut back on calories, eat the right foods, and exercise moderately but regularly. Walking is a good form of exercise. It’s relatively easy to do, and it isn’t high impact, so your body won’t be overtaxed. Following are a few tips on how to walk off weight.

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People often neglect flexibility. When we go to the gym, we are worried about running or lifting weights; We never think to take time out to stretch. Flexibility is difficult to achieve. There is always room for improvement in stretching, this is why it is difficult to keep a routine of stretching. Many people do not like stretching, because it takes so long to see results in their flexibility. However, the importance of flexibility cannot be stressed enough.

As you get older, your muscles begin to lose strength and mobility. You often hear older people complaining about stiffness in their muscles and joints, and this could be a lack of stretching these muscles groups or joints. Another reason for stiffness and lack of mobility is just simply from being inactive. It is a common known fact that being physically active will prolong our life, and keep our physical body components healthier, however, people forget that stretching can be a key factor in this. The loss of flexibility can lead to permanent changes in your muscles and your posture. It is critical to not only be physically fit, but to also be flexible as well.

There are more people that struggle with flexibility than you would think. For example, if you feel any discomfort when you reach down to touch your toes, this means you need to do more flexibility stretches in your day.

Adding stretching to achieve flexibility is easy and you do not have to spend too much time on it. Even just stretching for 10-15 minutes each day will do wonders for your body. If you really want to see results in your flexibility, you really should be stretching at least once a day. The best way to stretch is to find a routine that works for your body and then practice regularly at home. However, it is actually easier, safer, and more useful to attend a class that already has a stretch routine, such as Yoga or Pilates.

You will see great improvements if you attend a yoga class regularly. If you do choose to stretch at home, you need to be extremely careful. First, do some research on certain stretches and make sure you are doing them absolutely correct. Second, when you are in the stretch make sure their is no pain AT ALL. There may be a slight discomfort, but that is all you should feel. After you have found your sweet spot in that certain posture, hold the stretch for 30 seconds. This is how you will see the most improvement in your flexibility.

If you are regularly stretching and making sure to be safe in your postures, flexibility will soon bless your life. You will see and feel the results in your body, and your body will thank you for that. I cannot stress the importance of stretching enough. If we do not maintain flexibility, our muscles and posture will dramatically change and you may feel sore and tight the rest of your life. Remember that “Objects in motion stay in motion”. Every time I make up an excuse not to stretch, I think of this saying. If I choose to sit and watch television, my muscles and joints are being neglected, therefore I am causing them to lose mobility. This is fine every once in a while, but if you choose to be sedentary often, you will see lack of mobility in your body later on, which can prevent you from attending in any physical activity.

Body weight exercises are the perfect way to build strength and lose fat. They are a great type of exercise to do in conjunction with cardio exercise. Lifting weights at the gym will isolate muscles and create a bulky shape, but they are not really functional muscles. If you are working the same muscles, with body weight exercises you will actually be working your entire body from the very core. Body weight exercises work your core muscles and affect every part of the body.

You probably already know the exercises that you can start doing, but do you really know how much of an impact these will have on your body. The push up for example, this is a very popular exercise used to build some pectoral muscle, but it also affects your abdomen, back, and does a great deal for your triceps and deltoids. You can even add to these already very beneficial exercises by doing modified push ups Each body weight exercise is going to be a compound exercises that reverberates through your entire body. So if you want functional strength and a lean and mean look, you want to do these kinds of exercises.

Squats are a good full body exercise too, effecting everything from your mid back on down. If you practice the ancient Hindu squat jump you will develop a very high vertical jump. These are easier than they sound. All you do is squat down, and once you hit the low point of your squat jump as high as you can, upon landing slowly lower yourself back into squat and repeat. This is a body weight exercise that doubles as a plyometric routine. Plyometric workouts exercise muscle control, rather than muscle strength.

So this is a very powerful exercise for all of you that want to run faster, jump higher, or even kick harder. Doing weighted squats is going to pack muscle and increase your ability to hold weight on your shoulders while you squat, but it won’t help you to run, jump or kick any better. Pull ups are basically the opposite of squats, what squats do for your lower body pull ups will do for your upper body. As long as you hold to good form you can get devastating effects from your lower abdomen all the way to your shoulders.

Perform 50 reps of each of these exercises first thing in the morning, and feel the energy surge that supercharges your day.  Now if you are looking to burn fat then try to do the 50 reps as fast as possible.  However, if you are trying to build muscle then work slowly and methodically through each exercise.

Jumping Jacks

Start with jumping jacks.  These are low intensity full body workouts that are perfect for warming up your muscles.

Studies show it is more beneficial to warm up your muscles with light exercise than it is to stretch.  So before any rigorous activity try a few of these.  It will make everything a lot more comfortable.

Push ups

To get the perfect push up place your legs no further than 12 inches apart.  Keep your hands centered directly beneath your shoulders. And, keep your body in a straight line from head to toe.  If you need to, you can keep your knees on the ground.

Try to keep a consistent speed throughout the entire exercise.  So the downward movement should take just as long as the upward push.

*Remember.  Keep your breathing steady and easy throughout the exercise.

Squat

Plant your feet firmly to the ground hip width apart.  Slowly move your buttocks toward the ground while keeping your face looking forward throughout the entire motion.

Because of the large muscle groups this exercise works, this is one of the best exercises for weight loss.  So if you are trying to lose weight from around the midriff this is the exercise to do.

Mountain Climber

This is the abdominal exercises you want to start doing.  Put yourself in push up position then alternate bringing left knee then right knee toward your chest.

This exercise tones the abdominal muscles by really working the core.  This helps to tighten the tummy rather than build bulk, meaning this routine will help you to get that flat ab look.

Bicycle Crunch

For both the mountain climbers and bicycle crunches one rep will be movement of both knees.  Keep it even, you don’t want to offset your body.

Alternate bringing each knee in toward the opposite side shoulder.  Keep the legs and shoulders off the ground until the exercise is complete.

*The ball is optional.

Do each of these Monday-Friday.  You will notice a great change in your workday, and within a couple weeks you will notice a huge change in your physique.  Good luck and remember to Rise and Exercise.

If you’re getting bored of your typical workout routine you may want to consider adding some variation with Kangoo Jumps. Kangoo Jumps are specialized shoes that turn your running, jogging, and aerobics routine into a plyometric workout. The shoes lower impact by 80% and work much like a mini trampoline or rebounder. Running with these shoes on is sure to quickly tire you out. This is one of the more unique and innovative ideas I’ve seen in the fitness world in a while.

Hiking is one of the most rewarding exercises that you can participate in.

There is so much to see around when you stop to look. Even the most mundane towns and cities have some sort of trail to at least walk on. Even better is if the area you live in has a national or state park. Utilize places like this. There is just something amazing about getting to the end of that trail to see what countless others have deemed worthwhile enough to build a trail to. Research on the web about trails in your area or ask some friends about trails. You may be impressed with how many different trails you will be able to find. The great thing about all these areas you never knew about is that a lot of times the landscape is dramatically different then your last trail you went on. Exploring your region can be fun, rewarding, and a great way to get in some exercise in. Hiking a mountain or any steep hills can burn 5 times as many calories as walking on a flatter trail. Just be a little careful on the way back down. Researchers from the University of Essex have found that hiking out in nature can reduce depression 70% of people whereas walking in a shopping center can actually increase depression for 20% of people.