An Exercise and Fitness Routine for those Blah Days
by Renee Kennedy and Terry Kent

Summer is right around the corner, but there's 2 feet
of snow in my driveway! If you like to exercise outside,
or you drive to the gym, how are you going to exercise when
the weather is lousy? Plan a simple, but effective
exercise routine that you can do right in your living room.
(By the way, shoveling snow is an excellent aerobic
workout - just be careful and take it slow.)

WARNING: Before you start any exercise routine, consult
your health care professional. Start this routine slowly, if you
can't do 10 repetitions of a certain exercise, then try five.

Materials needed: two weights, three lbs each
or two soup cans

Routine:

Day One:
Stretching - 10 minutes
Upper Body Work Out - 10 minutes
Ab Work Out - 10 minutes
Cool down - 5 minutes

Day Two:
Stretching - 10 minutes
Aerobic Work Out - 20 minutes
Cool down - 5 minutes

Alternate these two days every other day at least
five days a week.

Stretching exercises:
http://www.studenthealth.ucla.edu/health/sha/stretch_exercises.htm

Ab Work Out:
2 repetitions of 10 each
1 - http://www.netfit.co.uk/abd5.htm
2 - http://www.netfit.co.uk/abd6.htm
3 - http://www.netfit.co.uk/abd26.htm

Upper Body Work Out:
2 repetitions of 10 each
http://www.hooah4health.com/body/toning/arms.htm
2 repetitions of 10 each
http://www.foodanddiet.com/NewFiles/chest.html

Aerobic Work Outs (Choose a different one each day
or make up your own!):
1 - Jump rope - jumping rope is actually kind of fun!
2 - Jog in place - boring but effective!
3 - Walk up and down stairs for a few minutes - great lower
body workout! (Just be sure that you have a railing to hold
onto.)
4 - Pretend you're a boxer and move from one foot to the
other around while jabbing the air.
5 - Turn on some loud music and dance around.
6 - Geared towards the housewife in all of us, put the
vacuum on its lowest setting and push that baby around
for awhile, alternating hands that you use to push it.

The point is - get yourself breathing deeply and sweating
a little.

Cool Down:
Choose a few more stretches for a complete cool down.

It's more about how much effort you put into each exercise rather
than how many exercises you do. In other words,
make each exercise work for you.

Again, see your doctor before planning any exercise routine.

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