It has come to my attention that in life there are many exercise
alternatives which are preferable to slogging it out on a sweat-drenched
machine at the gym; many of which we do everyday anyway. I can’t tell you the
amount of times I’ve be doing something round the house and thinking ‘why would anyone head for the gym when they
could be doing this’. Of course for you hard-core exercise fanatics I know
you won’t necessarily agree, but everyone one else keep reading.
Of course it’s fitting that this list would come from me;
the girl who avoids gyms at all costs and who justifies running up the stairs
at work as a totally acceptable daily exercise regime (although I will give
myself credit for an occasional run, read here). Below is my little golden list
of easy ‘exercise’ alternatives. They may seem amusing, but I’m deadly serious.
Really.
Why have a gym membership when you can:
- Attack your garden hedge; great for toning arms. Honestly after a morning of trimming, my arms are sorer than any gym machine has ever made them.
- Vacuum the house, or for the more advanced, vacumn the house in heels. It’s a great all-over workout for arms, core and legs.
- Grate multiple carrots (for a carrot cake, recipe here) this is a great tricep and bicep work out as you hold the grater steady whilst also engaging your core. You may laugh at this one, but give it a go and you'll see what I mean.
- Put on some music while you’re cooking/cleaning/working. If you’re anything like me then you won’t be able to help but break-out into a little dance.
- Wash the car; a great activity for a summer’s day. The scrubbing really works the arms and you can work some squats in there when you do the tyres. Plus you can work on your tan – what gym lets you do that? Hey, hey?
And if all else fails, make like Elle Woods and do the ‘bend
and snap’ every time you pick something up.
To be continued...