Valentine’s Day has come and gone and chances are, whether you’re in a relationship or not, you’ve binged.
If you’re in a relationship, maybe you’ve been binge-eating all the sweets your sweetheart gave you. If you’re not, maybe you’re been drinking a lot of wine or eating all the candy you bought for yourself.
Either way, it’s time to come back to reality. It’s important to exercise in order to maintain a healthy body and that entire box of chocolates you ate is setting you about two weeks back.
It’s important to work out regularly and most importantly, at your own pace. Below are some tips for keeping fit in the weeks between Valentine’s Day and spring break that won’t ruin your life or break your back.
Easy crunches
The best thing about your abs is that you can work on them almost every day. These muscles don’t need a reprieve the way that other parts of your body do. A simple crunch routine every day can keep you in shape, toned and eventually leave you with some definite ab lines that will make it look like you’re a gym buff.
Crunches in sets of eight work best. My favorite routine includes two sets of eight normal crunches, one set of crunches with the left leg raised, one set of crunches with the right leg raised, one set of crunches with both raised, one set of crunches in which instead of shifting your weight forward it shifts to the left and then one set to the right, then return to a set of normal crunches. For the best results, repeat this cycle five times, though it’s OK to change it up depending on your skill level.
Power arms
If you have “chicken wings,” or excessive fat hanging off of your upper arms, it can be difficult to get rid of. There’s an easy way to remedy the issue of un-toned arms, all it takes is a little effort a couple times a week.
You can use weights if you want to but, if not, these exercises still work.
Raise your arms as if you’re showing off your biceps, then move them toward each other so your fists and upper/lower arm touch one another. Repeat this move around 50-75 times.
Swing your arms from complete rest position in which they hang by your side to completely raising them, elbows locked and arms up straight by your ears on either side of you. Repeat this between 50-75 times and feel the burn of your arm fat slowly melting.
Simple squats
Squats can be a tricky thing to get into, especially if you don’t have a ton of leg muscle or aren’t willing to work on it. There’s an easy way to work your buns and thighs if you’re feeling lazy that will keep your muscles at their peak and your butt looking its best.
One way to go about this is wall sits, since you can do them anywhere. Complete six sets of 30-second wall-sits anywhere you can. Put your back up against the wall and adjust into a sitting position – hold for 30 seconds – then break for 10.
If wall-sits are too much for you, an easy way to go about squats is to do mountain-climbers. Hold up your weight in push-up position and then put one knee to your chest one at a time, 50 times in total. Repeat six times or until you feel the burn.
Full Body
There are plenty of full-body and cardio workouts that can help to keep you fit. It can mean a 20-minute run or 100 jumping jacks, but no matter what you decide it’s important to go about this full body workout.
Some easy ideas would be 20 sets of jumping jacks turned to leap frogs. This means complete one jumping jack, then squat to the floor, push your legs out, bring them back into a tuck position, then stand up and repeat.
Another easy full-body workout is full crunches, in which you start on the floor on your back in crunch position, then lift your upper body up into squat position, stand, then roll back to the floor and repeat.
No matter what it is, a full body workout is important to ensure that you work out most of your muscles.
No matter what the workout is, it’s important to exercise consistently no matter what season it is. It’s part of keeping a healthy metabolism, maintaining a healthy life style and most importantly, staying fit.
Tori Roseman is the senior features editor and can be reached at tori.roseman@ubspectrum.com.
