Today’s post comes from fitness expert, Brandy Yearous, from How to Multi Task Your Workout. After having two kids, Brandy wanted her body back but didn’t have the time, money or energy to get to the gym. So she developed an at-home workout routine that fit into every schedule her kids could throw at her. (More on her below.) She will be around today to answer your questions in the Comments, so don’t be shy!
How to multi-task your workouts
Everyone wants to know how to fit exercise into a busy schedule. The easy answer is multi-task your workouts! That simply means as you go about your day, find ways to fit toning exercises in, so by the end of the day you can equate that to a full day’s workout.
The bathroom - a perfect place to exercise… really
It’s easier than you think. Let’s start in the bathroom where women spend a lot of time getting ready for the day or shutting down for the night. It takes most women 20-40 minutes to blow dry their hair. Why not use that time to get in your leg workout?
As you start blow drying your hair (this can also be used when brushing your teeth) you can do squats, lunges, side leg lifts, standing knee kicks, front/back leg lifts. Work your legs and abs at the same time by using your arm that is not holding the blow dryer. Make a punching motion across your body, while pivoting the leg on the same side. Be sure to tighten your sides as your arm moves across your body. When you come back to facing forward, bend the pivot knee – bring it in toward your chest to create a standing crunch. Alternate each crunch with a punch across your body. Switch the blow dryer to the other hand and repeat on the other side.
Do NOT include the next exercise into your bathroom routine if you have any back pain/problems.
Start by sitting with your rear end against the sink, feet together. While brushing your teeth lean back from the waist up. Then bring yourself forward until you are straight again. Be sure to only use your abs to pull you forward. Do not use your back to push. Do 3 sets of 15-20 standing sit ups in the time it takes to brush your teeth.
Want to work out while sitting at your desk? Learn to Suck It Up!
If you look at your stomach in the mirror standing sideways, when you suck in your stomach it leaves all the outside muscles loose. You can only pull it in as far as your muscles underneath the fat can tighten. Instead of sucking your stomach in, suck it UP. It’s the same motion as a belly laugh. Raise your belly button up toward your chest. When you suck it up, you are engaging all of your abdominal muscles, making them longer. This gives the muscles more room to spread out, so you end up flattening your abs all the way from your ribs to your pelvic bone, not just flattening your lower stomach.
Sucking it up while sitting at your desk is a great way to squeeze in your crunches. Envision pulling them up and under your ribs. Really try to raise your belly button a few inches. The added benefit to doing this at your desk is it improves your posture. You have to sit up straighter to give your abs more room to flatten out. Plus you get the added bonus of being able to do it without anyone noticing.
More multi-tasking?
These are just a few simple ways to multi-task your workout. The possibilities are endless. Try some of the suggestions or make up your own exercises and share them here. Let us know what works for you. If you have questions or want to know other places to multi-task or have a problem area you would like us to focus on, feel free to let us know. We’re here to help!
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More info about Brandy:
Brandy has a Bachelors Degree Cum Laude in Physical Science from Northern Arizona University and has worked in Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine since she was 15. She has been teaching fitness and exercise for 17 years and has successfully coached others on multi-tasking a workout through their everyday routines. Brandy is developing and marketing her techniques for her upcoming book.
Check out her blog here and leave your questions and comments below…
Photo Credit: stock.xchng
Never thought of the bathroom, thanks. I’ll give sucking it up a go. I haven’t blow dried my hair in years but that’s neither here nor there.
Have to admit I never thought of my bathroom as a gym substitute! Mine is a little on the small side, plus there is the issue of the cat having to be everywhere I am, so may not work for me. Will try to “suck it up” at my desk though!
Ha! The teenage daughter is going to get this one after I print it out! Thanks!
Hey! Glad to help!
I just got to where I was too busy to make it to the gym and I thought, “What the heck can I do right here!”
I also figured women spend 30-40 minutes a day (not always at once) in the bathroom. THAT’S where were should be working out! That and at our desk. So that’s where my plan is.
If you need help on specific target areas/exercises you can do in the bathroom or have issues with size or shape of your bathroom just shoot us a line and I can help you work it out!
Good Luck!
What if your bathroom is too small, because your wife is always in it?!?!
Luv.
HB
HA! Then you practice your side leg kicks to kick her out. Kidding!
None of those things are required for the bathroom. More so for your bathroom ‘time’. There’s no difference between doing them there or in your bedroom.
Basically if you brushing your teeth, don’t waste the two minutes just standing there. Find an exercise you can do and use those two minutes to kill two birds with one stone.
Great ideas! Now I just need to get into the habit of actually DOING them! I’ll try a Post-It note on the mirror as a reminder.
I have the same issue as Missicat does. Anytime I exercise at home one of my kitties is always underfoot, investigating my activities, so it is near impossible. I get my workouts in at the gym and outdoors (in summer). So, during a cold New England winter, I wish I could get some workouts in at home, but Toonces makes that impossible!
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