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How to Turn Household Chores Into a Workout

Household chores into workout

Taking care of the house is a never-ending job! I still remember my mother being so caught up with household chores that she never got the time to workout. One day when I got home after working out, I saw my mother doing the regular housework and an idea struck me! What if we can turn daily household chores into a workout routine?

Benefits of Turning Household Chores Into a Workout

Most people struggle with the fact that due to the lack of time, they skip working out. If you turn household chores into a workout routine, you’re killing two birds with one stone. You find your chores as well as get a good, light workout.

Like any other physical activity, housework can tone muscles if done correctly and in the right posture. It’s already proved that short bouts of relatively mild exercise can help improve your fitness levels, especially for those who do little or no physical activity or are just getting started. To top it off, this can help you break the monotony of routine and add a little bit of fun to completing chores.

Here’s How You Get Started

  1. Lunges (Vacuum Cleaning): While using the vacuum cleaner, you can walk in a lunges posture. Remember to keep your knees directly above your ankles, your back straight and your abs engaged. You will know this is working by feeling the pressure in your thighs and glutes. Lunges are a good exercise for strengthening, sculpting and building several muscles/muscle groups, including the quadriceps (or thighs), the gluteus maximus (or buttocks) and the hamstrings as well.
  2. Squats: Pick up items on the floor or tables by squatting. Keep your back straight, squat deeply by bending your knees. Hold for 15 seconds before rising up again. A Squat is an exercise that primarily trains the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks. It also works the quadriceps (vastus lateral, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris), hamstrings, and strengthens the bones, ligaments as well as the insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body
  3. Make Sweeping Movements: Instead of cleaning haphazardly when scrubbing glass doors or cleaning windows, make long, sweeping movements. For instance, when you are cleaning the doors or windows, take long swipes from top to bottom, squatting (not bending) to reach the lower spots. This will give you a fantastic shoulder workout and engage your entire lower body. If you want you can also hold a small bucket of water in your other hand to increase the strength of your arms.
  4. Sweeping: While sweeping, tuck your stomach and oblique muscles in, keep your back straight and bring the bristles of the broom as far as possible and pull in.
  5. Dance on the Beat: Turn on the music system while doing household chores and dance to the music the way you want. Try to use some fast music so you’ll be encouraged to pick up your speed and break a sweat. If you’re wondering how dancing helps your health, click here.
  6. Step it up: Use a stepladder, stairs or step stool when you need to reach high areas. Try to repeat the same steps 8-10 times. Trust me, this is a really great exercise for your hamstrings, provided you keep your back straight. You can simulate your own step aerobics session this way!
  7. Loading the Washing machine: When you are loading or unloading your washing machine, just twist and move more. This movement will help to strengthen your core.
  8. Sculpt and Fold: Lifting laundry can be the toughest part of your routine. Tone your arms by holding them raised at 90° angle as you carry the laundry basket. Use the squats and lunges posture with your legs as your fold.
  9. Take a Swing. Instead of cleaning your rugs, carpets, sheet using a vacuum cleaner, take them outside, hang them up, pick up your broom and show your muscular talent! Swing away to beat out the dust and dirt. Performing this activity will help you involve more muscles than vacuuming alone and help you get some fresh air as well.
  10. Always Prefer Stairs: Instead of making one trip up and down, try to convert it into multiple trips with the clean or dirty clothes. Remember, we have a target to do more work as a workout, not less work with the help of machines!

What are you waiting for! Make your household chores something to look forward to by turning them into a workout. Try this for a week and let us know if you see any changes. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Find more tips on exercising and workouts here. If you need help with your workouts, learn from the best by signing up for an interactive GOQii PRO class where you’ll be guided in real-time by a certified expert. Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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Why Climbing Stairs Is The Best Exercise!

climbing stairsYou can run a 5k but running up a flight of stairs tires you out? You can squat heavy and lunge with weights, yet walking up a couple of flights of steps makes it feel like a whole other workout? Here’s a workout that can actually challenge your body, endurance and actual strength and stamina. Climbing stairs is one of the best exercises when it comes to pure FAT BURN, strengthening the lower body, toning the butt, thighs, calves, losing inches from those love handles and belly as well as building great abs. Along with these benefits, it is the immense good it does for your lungs and Cardiovascular System.

Why Should You Choose Climbing Stairs?

  • It is totally free and just about all of us can get access to a set of stairs
  • It leverages gravity and the heavier we are, the harder we’re forced to work and the more calories we burn
  • It is a relatively intense exercise that quickly increases our heart rate and in doing so, can greatly improve our cardiovascular fitness
  • It helps strengthen and shape our most common problem areas like calves, thighs, buttocks and tummy
  • It is a very efficient way of burning maximum calories and is great for those of us with limited time to exercise
  • It can easily be mixed with other exercises like walking, skipping and weight training to maximize results. Stair climbing workouts are easy to build progression into
  • It can be done by almost anyone, regardless of fitness level
  • Because it is weight bearing, it helps build bone strength
  • It is low impact and safe for the knees, provided the correct technique is used and a pre-existing condition doesn’t exist

The way forward with exercise is quality over quantity. Too many people fix a ‘one hour’ workout in their mind and if they can’t find time for that ‘1 hour’, they just don’t do it. Aim for power workouts, 25-30 mins max, where you max out your reps, burn those muscles and really get your heart rate up. 35-40 minutes should include a great warm up and an extremely important cool down.

You can burn more calories walking/running up steps in 30 mins than a 1 hour run or walk, plus it challenges your body. Start off with a couple of flights, walk and run slowly. As you get better, run and then skip 2 steps at a time and run or walk.

In a nutshell, Walking: 

  • Burns More Calories: Stair climbing engages your body’s largest muscle groups to repeatedly lift your body weight up, step after step. Thus, using your muscles to carry your own weight is far higher to running when compared.
  • Maximizes Your Cardio Efforts: It also raises your heart rate immediately, thus, maximizing your cardio benefits
  • Increases Core Muscle Strength: Climbing stairs is a great way to amp your core muscle strength
  • Tones & Sculpts Your Body: It also engages every major muscle in your lower body — glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abs and calves to exercise and thus tones your body better
  • Low Impact Workout: You don’t have to ideally sweat it out while climbing stairs. Just a few stairs every day will give you a good workout

Safety First: Never run down the stairs, be confident while running up and take a break when needed.

Start doing this regularly and soon, you will be running up flights of stairs, feeling fitter, younger, stronger and leaner! 

If this article helped you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this article with your fellow fitness enthusiasts.

You can find more articles on fitness here. If you’re stuck indoors and don’t have access to stairs, you can join our certified experts for a live, interactive GOQii PRO session where you’ll get one-on-one guidance in real time. Book a class now through the GOQii App.

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Planks: The Quick and Easy Way to Stay Fit!

Benefits of Planks

With everyone’s busy schedule, even squeezing in a 15 minute workout seems like a stretch. Quite honestly, we all want to be fit, lose weight, gain muscle, reduce belly fat or increase stamina and so on, but very rarely find the time to do it. In such a scenario, it is necessary to think about which workouts consume less time but are more effective. There are many exercises that you can perform at any time, anywhere and with no equipment. One such workout is Planks.

Planks strengthen your mid-section, upper-body and lower-body muscles along with the front of your body. It also strengthens the inner core muscles that support your joints. At a time, it works on all your core muscles. It can also help you improve posture, balance and overall fitness.

How To Hold A Plank

  • Lie face down with forearms on the floor and hands clasped
  • Extend your legs behind the body and rise up on the toes
  • Keeping your back straight, tighten the core and hold the position for 30-60 seconds (or as long as you can)

Plank Variations and How to Perform Them

There are different variations for the plank which are a little difficult to perform. Let’s explore them!

  1. Side Plank: Roll to the side and come up on one foot and elbow. Make sure your hips are lifted and the core is engaged. Hang tight for 30-60 seconds (or as long as you can)
  2. Reverse Plank: Start by sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Place your palms on the floor, below your shoulders, squeeze your buttocks and thighs, and then push your body up into a reverse plank position. Alternatively, you can begin by placing your elbows rather than your hands on the floor, for a less dramatic lift. Keep your body in a straight diagonal line from your shoulders to heels. Ensure that your hips are in line
  3. Dynamic Prone Plank: Starting with a standard plank position, raise the hips as high as they can go and then lower them back down. Continue this movement for as long as possible. Make sure the Back stays straight and the hips don’t droop.
  4. Plank to Push-Up: Starting in a plank position, place down one hand at a time to lift up into a push-up position, with the back straight and the core engaged. Then, move one arm at a time back into the plank position (forearms on the ground). Repeat alternating the arm that makes the first move
  5. Jumping Jack Planks: There are planks, and then there are planks with pop! Start in a traditional plank (shoulders over the wrists and the body in one straight line) but keep your feet together. Then, simply do jumping jacks with the legs, moving them out to the sides, then back together. Aim for 12-15 hops (out and in is one)

Fun Fact: Just by holding a plank for 30 secs a day, you can make your core stronger. It also helps you lose fat!

One word of caution is being careful when performing planks. Overdoing it could lead to injury. This is important if you have back pain or an injury. If you’re trying it for the first time, get into it slowly and gradually till you can hold the plank for longer duration. The duration can be increased with  practice.

Points to Remember

  • Keep breathing while doing the Plank. In essence, don’t hold your breath
  • Ensure that your hips, head or shoulders do not drop
  • Don’t place your hands very close, it can create internal rotation and instability in your shoulder joint
  • Try to hold the Plank in a proper position for a short duration rather than holding it in a wrong position for a longer time

What do you think? Try out planks and its variations and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

You can find more articles on fitness here. You can also join our certified experts for a live, interactive session on GOQii PRO. Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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व्यायाम को एक आदत बनाने में आपकी मदद करने के लिए 6 ट्रिक्स

व्यायाम को एक नियमित आदत बनाने का प्रयास करेंअमूमन जब आप आपने बॉडी शेप में आने के लिए एक नया वर्कआउट रूटीन सेट करते है, तो आपके इरादे अक्सर आपके एक्शन से मेल नहीं खाते। आपको एहसास होने लगता है कि कुछ हासिल करने का इरादा रखने और उस इरादे को पूरा करने के लिए वास्तव में काम करने के बीच एक बड़ा अंतर है। इसके बारे में खुद को परेशान नहीं करने की जरूरत है। हमेशा कोई न कोई रास्ता होता है जो इस अंतर को कम कर सकता है। आइए कुछ तरकीबों पर गौर करें जो वर्कआउट को आपकी आदत बनाने में आपकी मदद कर सकते हैं!

एक्सरसाइज को आदत कैसे बनाएं

  1. एक लक्ष्य निर्धारित करें और खुद को उसका एक रिमाइंडर भेजें: मैं कसरत करना चाहता था क्योंकि मैं हमेशा एक सैनिक की तरह फिट रहना चाहता था – यही मेरा लक्ष्य था। मैंने अपने फोन पर सुबह 5 बजे के लिए “एक सैनिक की तरह फिट रहें” के लिए एक रिमाइंडर सेट किया। यह मेरी सुबह के अलार्म के रूप में भी काम करता था। एक ऐसा लक्ष्य निर्धारित करें जहां आप हर रोज खुद को याद दिलाएं और आप जब तक अपना वर्कआउट पूरा ना कर लें आपको नींद नहीं आनी चाहिए।
  2. दोस्त को चुनौती दें: जिस दिन आप वर्कआउट शुरू करने का प्लान बनाते हैं, उसी दिन अपने दोस्त को चुनौती देदें। मैंने अपने दोस्त को मैसेज किया, “अरे, अगले 30 दिनों में, मैं अपना स्टैमिना 6/10 से बढ़ाकर 10/10 करने जा रहा हूं’। यकीन मानिए, आपका दोस्त आपको यह कभी नहीं भूलने देगा कि आपको रोजाना व्यायाम करने की जरूरत है।
  3. 21/90 नियम का प्रयोग करें: यह नियम कहता है कि किसी आदत को बनने में 21 दिन लगते हैं। एक लाइफस्टाइल बनाने में 90 दिन लगते हैं। इस नियम के अनुसार आप 21 दिनों तक एक भी दिन स्किप नहीं कर सकते। इन 3 हफ्तों में एक्सरसाइज आपकी आदत बन जाएगी। और एक बार जब आप इसे करने में सक्षम हो जाते हैं, आप इसे अगले 90 दिनों तक करना जारी रखेंगे।
  4. 1 रेस्ट डे के साथ खुद को रिवार्ड करें: 1 दिन अपने “रेस्ट डे” के रूप में रखें। यह आपकी मांसपेशियों की रिकवरी के लिए भी महत्वपूर्ण है।
  5. इसे आनंददायक बनाएं: ऐसे में आपका पसंदीदा म्यूजिक एक जादू का काम करेगा।  बिना बोर हुए आप अपनने वर्कआउट से प्यार करने लगेंगे। यह वास्तव में कुछ ऐसा है जो मैं करता हूं और इसका भरपूर आनंद लेता हूं।
  6. बेबी स्टेप्स लें: आखिरी लेकिन सबसे काम की ट्रिक – जब मैंने वर्कआउट शुरू किया, तो मै पूरे “जोश” में था। मैं सेट्स और रेप्स की गिनती करना भूल गया और बहुत सारी एनर्जी के साथ वर्कआउट किया। मुझे हमेशा से लगता था कि जितना ज्यादा वर्कआउट करूंगा, उतनी ही जल्दी मुझे परिणाम मिलेंगे। लेकिन हुआ ठीक इसका उलटा। दूसरे दिन के वर्कआउट के लिए मेरे पास कोई एनर्जी नहीं बची थी। तो, यह मेरे लिए एक सबक के रूप में था – शुरुआत में बहुत ज्यादा करने से बर्नआउट होता है; जो आपकी वर्कआउट कि आदत के छोड़ने का कारण बन सकता है। तो, शुरुआत में 15-30 मिनट के लिए हल्की तीव्रता वाले व्यायाम से शुरुआत करें। हमारा एकमात्र उद्देश्य नियमित होना है – यानी कि हम बिना किसी दिन नागा किये रोज़ाना वर्कआउट करते रहे। “एक समय में एक कसरत। एक बार में एक दिन। एक समय में एक भोजन” – चालेन जॉनसन।

अब जब आप इन आसान ट्रिक्स के बारे में जान गए हैं, आइए वर्कऑउट्स को एक आदत बनाने का लक्ष्य रखें! अच्छी सेहत की चमक का आनंद लेने के लिए अपनी व्यायाम का आनंद लीजिए।

यदि इस लेख ने आपकी मदद की है, अपने विचार हमें नीचे कमेंट्स में बताएं। आप यहां मोटिवेशन और फिटनेस पर और लेख पढ़ सकते हैं। यदि आप लगातार बने रहना चाहते हैं या काम करना शुरू करना चाहते हैं, GOQii PRO पर लाइव, इंटरैक्टिव, मज़ेदार सेशन के माध्यम से एक विशेषज्ञ से सही मार्गदर्शन प्राप्त करें। GOQii ऐप के माध्यम से अभी क्लास बुक करें।

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