By now you should be rockin & rollin with your health & wellness journey. So let’s add in some strength or resistance training this week, shall we? Strength training is SO beneficial for our bodies. Second to walking, this is the greatest thing you can do to remain independent long into our later adulthood. It will help you maintain strong bones and correct posture. It helps burn fat even at rest. Let’s look at some things you can do to start incorporating strength training into your routine. No gym membership necessary!
- Yoga is GREAT for beginners. You start where you are. You don’t need special equipment. You don’t even need to be fully-abled. I use yoga for stretching, increasing my flexibility and range of motion, and improving my mind-body connection. You’d be surprised how much difference a few minutes a day helps with your strength and flexibility! Hop on YouTube and type in yoga + whatever your restrictions are. Mine currently is seated only. Then try a few until you find an instructor you like, then try to incorporate some every day.
- Squats are my FAVORITE move! Squats are so useful for your everyday life. Proper squats will let you pick up your kids or the groceries. I didn’t realize how much I squat until I couldn’t do them. You probably squat to get to the bottom shelf of your refrigerator or pick something up off the floor. You want to be able to do these every day for the rest of your life. So start with some bodyweight squats. Go as low as you can, and then back up. I liked to do them on commercial breaks. When you can do a fair amount without getting winded, try holding the squat position for up to a minute, or pulsing them to add variety and a LOT of difficulty – all without even picking up a weight!
- Pushups. To me, pushups are the squat of the upper body. They’ll work your chest and arm muscles. The muscles you need to carry those groceries or kids! If you’re not used to pushups or can’t do one, start with wall push ups, and progressively lower yourself to the ground. Or modified pushups with your knees on the ground and work up from there.
- Situps. We all have a love/hate with situps, right? But they do some to help with our abdominals, and a lot of our balance and stability comes from our abs, as does our posture. So strong abs are essential as we get older. Try doing them on a soft surface first, and do a few throughout the day. You’ll probably feel some small discomfort at first the day AFTER, but that’s OK, it’ll wear off fast. Then you can progress to using a weight, or doing what are called incline or decline situps. Or use a stability ball (again, this can easily be done at home, no gym required!)
If you’re curious about one on one or group coaching, send an email to essentially.lyd@gmail.com and I’ll connect with you right away!
Essentially Health & Wellness 