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Stop giving excuses and turn your home into a mini gym. Forty minutes is all you need, says Riz Sunny.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Christmas Abbott/Instagram
Exercising is an integral part of maintaining a fit and healthy body constitution.
Our sedentary lifestyle tends to not only instill a lethargic attitude but also weakens the body with feeble muscle and bone strength.
Irrespective of what diet you follow, staying in perfect shape without exercising is an impossible task.
You don't need to devote countless hours on exhausting exercises.
Adhering to a workout of simple exercises on a regular basis is enough to maintain good health and body-shape.
It is essential to keep up an active lifestyle with varying degrees of effort required at different stages of life to maintain a healthy body.
Though it is better to have a trainer guide you along the way, we have listed out a simple set of exercises which will help you to stay in fit, without requiring any special equipment or instructions.
Before beginning your workout, it is important to warm up with these movements
Arm Circles
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms stretched out to the side.
Slowly rotate your arms, first forward and then backwards, in a circle. Repeat this exercise 10 times in each direction.
Leg swings
Stand up straight and hold on to something for support.
Swing each leg back and forth like a pendulum. Repeat 10 times on each leg.
Knee lifts
Lift one knee to the chest at a time (hold onto support if needed). Repeat 20 times on each leg.
Squats
Stand up straight, legs shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and lower your bottom as if you're sitting on a chair. Slowly return to start position. Repeat 25 times.
Exercises are quantified as ‘sets’ and ‘reps’, in which a rep is the number of times you perform a specific exercise, and a set is the number of cycles of reps that you complete.
After warm-up, the real workout begins.
4 sets x 50 reps high knees
Stand in place with your feet hip-width apart.
Bring your right knee toward your chest and quickly place it back on the ground.
Follow immediately by driving your left knee toward your chest. Repeat until the desired reps are completed.
4 sets x 30-seconds plank
Lie face-down on the ground.
Bring yourself up as if you're about to perform a push-up.
Balance your weight on your forearm and your feet.
Feet should be hip-width apart, and elbows should be shoulder-width apart.
Forearms should remain touching the ground.
Tighten your abs in line with your posture which should be in a straight line from head to heels.
Perform this exercise for the desired time.
4 sets x 10 reps push-ups
Start on your hands and feet or knees in a table-top position.
With your arms straight, your shoulders should be over your wrists.
Bend your elbows and lower your upper body slowly to the ground.
When your nose reaches the floor, press up with your arms and return to the starting position.
Perform four sets of 10 reps.
4 sets x 30 seconds wall-sit
Place your back against the wall, shoulder-width apart.
Start to bring your hips down towards the ground until your knees are in a 90 degree angle.
Stay in this position for 30 seconds and repeat until 4 sets are completed.
4 sets x 30 seconds static squat
Place your feet at shoulder-width.
Turn your toes out slightly.
Tighten your stomach and keep your chest up.
Bring your arms up to shoulder level as you slowly bend your knees and push your hips backward.
Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Pause and stay in this position for 30 seconds.
Return to the starting position by dropping your arms and push your hips forward.
4 sets x 12 reps squats
Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart.
Your hips, knees, and toes should all be facing forward.
Bend your knees and extend your buttocks backward as if you are going to sit back into a chair.
Make sure that you keep your knees behind your toes and your weight in your heels. Rise back up and repeat 12 times.
4 sets x 50 reps Ali Shuffle
Keeping your weight on the balls of your feet, scissor your legs front and back.
This is quick footwork, and it should be light and fast.
Pump your arms to keep the speed of the feet up in tempo.
Do 25 shuffles for each leg.
Complete your workout by cooling down your body with simple stretching of arms, legs and back.
Do these simple exercises regularly, preferably everyday for 30 to 40 minutes to stay fit and in good shape.
Riz Sunny is founder of My Bollywood Body, an online fitness platform based in Canada, which promotes the concept of e-gymmimg.