Couch Potato
Workout
From Couch
Potato to Couch Commando
18 minutes
of exercise you can do during TV
commercials to stay fit.
95% of all
Americans want to be in better shape,
but who has the time to work out these
days? I mean there’s so much good stuff
on TV, when can you ever find a gap to
get some exercise in?
America is suffering from an obesity
epidemic that’s costing us billions of
dollars every year. Our children are
physically de-conditioned and the
effects of cutting PE programs in
schools has led to a significant rise in
new diseases like ADD, ADHD and type 2
diabetes. 20 years ago these diseases
were relatively insignificant, but today
lots of children are taking some form of
medication like Ritalin, Adderall or
insulin. It used to be that only “old”
people took drugs for their health, now
it’s socially normal for kids to pop
pills as well.
What can be done? What might help save
us? I believe we should take advantage
of the best thing that ever happened to
the media industry: the commercial
break.
I know what you’re thinking, “The
commercial break? It’s actually the
worst part of watching TV, they’ve even
started showing them before movies and
it drives me crazy.” It’s not
necessarily the loud ads, aggressive
selling techniques or catchy jingles
that are important, rather it’s the 18
minutes of forced breaks (in a typical 1
hour television program). Instead of
listening to someone try to sell you
something, again, kill two birds with
one stone and take those 18 minutes and
make the best out of them.
Actually, a lot can be done in 18
minutes. Some people will run a 3K,
complete six rounds in a boxing match,
or play a few sets of tennis. Have you
ever tried to do any physical activity
for three minutes in a row without a
break of any kind? It’s quite an
experience. Your heart starts to beat
rapidly, your lungs starts to burn and
your muscles yell at you to slow down.
You can get some serious results by
working out for 3 minutes at a time.
So here’s a brief exercise circuit to
help you reach the fitness status of
“couch commando” without leaving the
living room.
1.) 25 jumping jacks. 2.) 15 pushups 3.) 15 sit-ups 4.) 15 squats while balancing on the
bosu ball you have stored in the living
room closet 5.) 12 tricep dips using the edge of
your couch as a bench 6.) 15 lunges (each leg) using your
couch to lean on if you need it 7.) 15 side arm raises using the five
pound dumb bells from the living room
closet 8.) Dry yourself off with your small
towel, your TV show is about to start
again.
See, that wasn’t so bad, and you didn’t
even miss a single second of your show.
Now your heart is beating, you’re
feeling the endorphin rush, you might be
wearing a big smile, and you definitely
feel better. The best part is that you
have 6 minutes to recuperate until it’s
time to repeat your circuit.
If you belong to a family, use the TV
time to get some exercise with your
loved ones. Maybe it starts as a
competition of who can do the most
pushups in a row, or sit-ups, or who can
balance on one leg for the longest?
When you introduce competition, you
engage creativity and set a goal for
your group to shoot for. Imagine dad,
mom, Billy, Susie and Fido exercising
and laughing together as they compete to
see who can do the most pushups before
So You Think You Can Dance starts again.
Written by
DanielCrouch, True Balance Health
and Wellness
Personal Trainer & Wellness
Guide.
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