Have you ever noticed that January seems to have magical properties? Just as soon as the bells chime midnight on December 31st thousands upon thousands of us are 'magically' transformed into motivated health-conscious individuals dedicated to making this our healthiest and fittest year ever.
The magic continues as we hand over our bank details to the local gym and actually commit to achieving our health goals for another year (all the while wondering at the feeling of deja vu we're experiencing).
At this point the magic is still strong.
We complete our inductions, initiate our gym programs and really get 'stuck into' our change of lifestyle.
Until about January the 31st that is! Traditionally, it is around this point (4-6 weeks after starting) that the 'black magic' kicks in.
The little voices in your head telling you that it's too dark, too cold or too wet to go to the gym and that you'll make up for it tomorrow.
Within a short time 'not-exercising' has become a habit again and your membership card has started to gather dust (More deja vu?).
And so repeats the cycle.
Interestingly, when asked, most exercise dropouts quote lack of results and lack of time as their primary reasons for quitting and yet, even with the most basic of physiological improvements, results are a function of time.
Perhaps it's a reflection of our 'instant society' that people expect immediate results.
After all, we can get instant coffee, meals in minutes and scan the internet at the touch of a button, so why shouldn't we get the body we want as soon as we take out our gym memberships? Well, I can't give you immediate results I'm afraid, but try following the simple ideas set out below and you'll be very surprised at the results that can be achieved in a very short time.
Each of the following ideas require no more than 5 minutes to perform so if you can't even find that amount of time you're simply not trying! 1.
Use the ad breaks to schedule your workouts - The average break runs for only 3 minutes allowing you a short burst of activity and plenty of time to recover in between.
There is double benefit in this strategy as most people use the ad-breaks to make tea or raid the fridge, this way you won't be able to.
And hey, you don't even have to miss your favorite program.
2.
Create a challenging circuit from body weight exercises.
Just by performing push ups, pull ups (from a table), squats, lunges and dips you're training literally every muscle in your body and creating a huge calorie demand whilst you do so and what's more, you don't need any special equipment to do them.
3.
Dance - Hey, we all love music.
Put your favorite CD on or turn on MTV and boogie along.
Most tracks are 3-5 min long so you can get a pretty good workout if you really 'go for it'.
It'll make you feel great too! Don't be fooled by the simplicity of these ideas.
They may not involve fancy equipment but they really do deliver the goods if you stick to them - and they can be great fun.
The key here is consistency.
You really have to make a commitment to follow your routine everyday.
Even if it's only one single 3-5 minute dance you'll still be doing more than if you sat on your sofa watching TV.
Ideally though, 3-5 (more if you want to) of these mini-workouts spread across the evening will yield the best results.
The magic continues as we hand over our bank details to the local gym and actually commit to achieving our health goals for another year (all the while wondering at the feeling of deja vu we're experiencing).
At this point the magic is still strong.
We complete our inductions, initiate our gym programs and really get 'stuck into' our change of lifestyle.
Until about January the 31st that is! Traditionally, it is around this point (4-6 weeks after starting) that the 'black magic' kicks in.
The little voices in your head telling you that it's too dark, too cold or too wet to go to the gym and that you'll make up for it tomorrow.
Within a short time 'not-exercising' has become a habit again and your membership card has started to gather dust (More deja vu?).
And so repeats the cycle.
Interestingly, when asked, most exercise dropouts quote lack of results and lack of time as their primary reasons for quitting and yet, even with the most basic of physiological improvements, results are a function of time.
Perhaps it's a reflection of our 'instant society' that people expect immediate results.
After all, we can get instant coffee, meals in minutes and scan the internet at the touch of a button, so why shouldn't we get the body we want as soon as we take out our gym memberships? Well, I can't give you immediate results I'm afraid, but try following the simple ideas set out below and you'll be very surprised at the results that can be achieved in a very short time.
Each of the following ideas require no more than 5 minutes to perform so if you can't even find that amount of time you're simply not trying! 1.
Use the ad breaks to schedule your workouts - The average break runs for only 3 minutes allowing you a short burst of activity and plenty of time to recover in between.
There is double benefit in this strategy as most people use the ad-breaks to make tea or raid the fridge, this way you won't be able to.
And hey, you don't even have to miss your favorite program.
2.
Create a challenging circuit from body weight exercises.
Just by performing push ups, pull ups (from a table), squats, lunges and dips you're training literally every muscle in your body and creating a huge calorie demand whilst you do so and what's more, you don't need any special equipment to do them.
3.
Dance - Hey, we all love music.
Put your favorite CD on or turn on MTV and boogie along.
Most tracks are 3-5 min long so you can get a pretty good workout if you really 'go for it'.
It'll make you feel great too! Don't be fooled by the simplicity of these ideas.
They may not involve fancy equipment but they really do deliver the goods if you stick to them - and they can be great fun.
The key here is consistency.
You really have to make a commitment to follow your routine everyday.
Even if it's only one single 3-5 minute dance you'll still be doing more than if you sat on your sofa watching TV.
Ideally though, 3-5 (more if you want to) of these mini-workouts spread across the evening will yield the best results.
SHARE
