Workouts At Home
Regular exercise should be an essential element of your Diabetes Standards of care. Exercise can help you reduce your weight, alleviate stress, and stave off many complications associated with Diabetes.
Yet, if you are like many people who dont have the time, budget, or inclination to visit a gym on a regular basis, working out regularly from home may provide a number of challenges, including motivation, accountability, and access to exercise equipment. However, many people also view working out from home as an advantage. Working out at home has many advantages, including:
- No commute
- Easy clean-up
- Saves time
- Privacy
- Flexibility and schedule
- Enables you to watch the kids
- Easier to do in intervals
Whether you have a comprehensive home gym that is complete with cardiovascular machines and weights, or you rely on an organic approach to exercising, working out from home can be fun. Keep in mind that the biggest challenge many people face when working out from home is staying motivated. You can find more tips on staying motivated here.
Below are some very common and easy exercises that you can do from home. Keep in mind that all of these exercises can be modified to suit your lifestyle and your physical requirements. However, in order to get the most benefit from these exercises, you should push your body as far as it will go.
Common at-home exercises:
- Walking for at least 30 minutes at a moderate pace. Look for hills to add a challenge.
- Jogging. If you have joint problems, then jog at a moderate pace on grass.
- Bicycling, especially at an incline.
- Yoga and Pilates. These versatile exercises include strength-straining and stretching elements for improved circulation, stronger muscles, and reduced stress.
- Step, dance, kick-boxing, or another boxed exercise routine. A boxed routine is one that comes in a cassette box or DVD that you can play over and over. There are many aerobic exercises in boxes, as well as yoga, Pilates and other forms of activity that you should consider.
- Strength training. You can develop your own strength training routine using at home equipment, such as the stairs, cans of soup, straight-back chairs, and other items. Use the stairs for calf lifts by standing on a step on the balls of your feet. Raise and lower your heels so that you flex your calf muscles. Use soup cans as weights by lifting them over your head until your arms feel fatigued or by performing common weight-lifting moves. There are also a variety of exercises you can do using a straight-backed chair. For example, you can slowly raise and lower your torso from the chair, using only your quad muscles.
Working out at home is convenient, private, and can provide a host of other advantages. Remember to include exercise in some form everyday in order to stay healthy and to reduce your risk of developing Diabetes complications. Prevention truly is the most effective treatment for Diabetes complications and other serious health conditions.
