Tag Archives: workout

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Getting Fit Without the Heat

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For much of the U.S., the insatiable summer heat has taken a break! Here in KC, we’ve traded in our triple digit temps for much cooler 90° days! Although these temps make walking from the parking lot in to a building much more bearable, it’s still not quite cool enough to get excited about heading outside for any kind of workout. So, this summer, we’re bringing it inside for you! Brought to you from one of our favorite fitness guides, Fit In 5, here are 6 workouts that will keep you up to speed with your fitness goals throughout the summer. (Note: All workouts given below are Medium intensity. The book also includes easy and hard intensity workouts.)

5 Minute Workouts

Core Strength and Stability

  • Lie face down with arms out to the sides and elbows bent at 90°
  • Lift the left arm and right leg simultaneously and hold for 5 seconds
  • Return to the start position
  • Life the right arm and left leg simultaneously and hold for 5 seconds
  • Return to the start position

Repeat 20 Times

Glutes, abs and thighs

  • Stand with legs together
  • Take a large step to the left
  • Squat down with feet turned out, keeping your back straight and looking forward
  • Step to the right, returning to a standing position
  • Repeat the steps above, moving to the right

Repeat 20 Times

10 Minute Workouts

Lower Body Strength & Power (Squat & Jump Squat)

  • Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and arms crossed on your chest
  • Keeping the back straight and looking forward, bend the legs to 90°
  • Return to the start position

Repeat 20 Times

  • Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and looking forward
  • Squat down about 90° and then jump vertically upward as high as you can

Repeat 20 Times continuously without resting between

Upper Body Strength & Power (Push-Up_& Abdominal Curl)

  • Start with legs bent and knees together on the floor and arms outstretched with hand shoulder-width apart on the floor
  • Form a straight line from your head to your knees
  • Lower your body to the floor
  • When the arms are at 90°, pause and straighten the arms

Repeat 20 Times

  • Lie flat on your back with your legs bent at 90°
  • Place your hands across your chest, each touching the opposite shoulder
  • Lift your head and shoulders toward your knees
  • Left your shoulders about 20 cm off the floor and return slowly to the start position

Repeat 20 times

30 Minute Workouts

Treadmill

  • 3-minute easy walk
  • 2-minute medium walk
  • 1-minute jog

Repeat 5 times

Swim

  • 10-minute easy to medium
  • 10 laps (2 lengths hard, 30 seconds rest)
  • 10-minute easy to medium

Like what you see? There’s a lot more where that came from. This book also includes pictures with each workout to help with any instructions that you’re unsure about. Once you choose your exercise, you can adjust the intensity to fit your needs. Plus, with weekly training programs, you can use this book to reach your exercise goals, up to 150 minutes per week.

Still need more incentive? How about a super-exclusive 20% off coupon code just for you, our Health Beat fans! Simply enter the code ‘healthbeat’ at checkout to receive your discount. Click here to start your order today! Oh, and hurry! Supplies are limited and the coupon is valid while supplies last.

Don’t forget to come back to the blog, or visit on Facebook or Twitter to share your thoughts on these great exercises! Plus, what are you doing to stay fit this summer? Share your ideas with everyone!

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Six Picks: The Top 6 Things You Need to Know About Waist Size

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  1. Weight and fat are not equal. How much you weigh and how much fat you have stored on your body are not the same, and can represent very different things. See this Today Show video on “Skinny Fat”
  2. More weight can be better in the right cases.  Bone and muscle weigh more than fat. A female that’s 5’4” weighs 145 lbs. can actually be much healthier than a female of the same height weighing 120 lbs. since the heavier female may have greater amounts of muscle and bone density.
  3. Ratios are the way to go. Calculating the ratio of weight to height is called your Body Mass Index, or BMI, Many studies have shown that a BMI greater than 25 increases a person’s chances of developing heart disease or cancer; especially more so after it increases above 30.
  4. Fat is different in different places. Excess fat on the waist and chest can increase the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, in comparison to those who have excess weight on the hips and thighs. Normal waist size in circumference for women is less than 35 inches and less than 40 inches for men.
  5. You can control your weight. Burn more calories than you consume, to put it simply. Exercising moderately for 30 minutes, four to six days a week will help you keep your weight under control.  
  6. Build muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. When exercising, it’s important to include some form of muscle strengthening at least twice a week.

During the holiday’s, it is important not to completely forget about yout nutrition. However, don’t restrict yourself too much. It will make for a stressful holiday season!

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Office Workouts: A Prelude to Office Olympics?

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By Corey M Jackson, Guest Writer

The FitDeck cards sitting on my desk are fun. It’s interesting to me to be saying that, but I can’t help but think it. All the randomness of a deck of cards, with the aim and understanding that, at the end, you’ll have gotten some physical fitness in as well. It’s most definitely a way to randomize a workout.

I, for one, get tired of doing the same exercises, day in and day out, and I haven’t ever made a workout schedule (though it’s been recommended to me on several occasions). I don’t even enter the gym as much as I should, because if it’s slightly out of the way at all, or I’ve forgotten something (like music, or gym clothes), then I’ve lost all motivation to go completely.

With this FitDeck, I’m kind of out of excuses. My FitDeck: Office Edition requires the simple equipment of a desk and an office chair. Those are easy enough to find since I work in an office with hundreds of those things around me.

I decide I want to take a break and work out for 5 minutes, so I shuffle the deck, pull out five cards and lay them on my desk. The first card is the Side Bend Stretch card. I do the exercise, paying attention to my fitness level describing how much time I need to stretch for, and then I move onto the next card. Next, it’s a Calf Raise Lower Body exercise. Then a Stomach Squeeze Middle Body exercise, followed by an Arm Waver and then a Desk Push Up Upper Body exercises.

5 minutes is over, and I’m back to what I was doing before, my heart rate a little elevated, and feeling refreshed and ready for the next time I want to take a little break from the office. Fit Deck cards are available in our catalog or at http://www.ncescatalog.com. (Just search FitDeck)