Easy Indoor, No-Sweat Workouts for Better Health

The binge lifestyle accompanied by the many happily enjoyed options of junk food makes regular exercise mandatory. It isn’t just your health that’s impacted but your work as well.

If you exercise regularly -

You have better stamina which allows you to keep up with the daily demands of an ambitious career
It positively impacts your cognitive processes. There have been studies that have mapped the effects of physical exercise on cognitive functioning. The results have shown that daily exercise improves learning and memory. It also prevents the decline of cognitive abilities with age.
The endorphin rush experienced during exercise will improve your mood. In the long run, you will experience better wellbeing.
If done in the first few hours of the morning, you can sleep better at night. Daily exercise is HIGHLY recommended for deeper, healthier sleep. As sleep impacts every area of our life, exercise is necessary for a happier, healthier you.

A lot of us maintain very erratic hours which makes regular workout somewhat difficult, and some of us procrastinate and others are plain lazy.

Due to an injury, I was unable to follow my usual workout routine, and any change in my daily lifestyle always leaves me very unsettled. I rapidly gained weight and became lethargic which impacted my productivity as well. As my backache persisted, I decided to find an easier, more convenient workout.

Now, a lot of exercise gurus recommend 10 minutes of exercise every hour to those who find it difficult to stick to a regular workout schedule. I have always found that sort of solution to be fairly ineffective where women are concerned. Most women can’t work out without a sports bra and there is simply no way, any woman is going to spend an entire day wearing one.

Also, if you wish to lose weight, you have to do more of cardio, and cardio means sweat which makes a shower necessary for those of us who don’t want a rash or worse. Then there’s the fact that interrupting a workday with spontaneous bursts of physical activity takes away from our productivity. Task switching is a major cause of low productivity.

So, this post is meant for those of us unable to do the usual choice of their workout due to one issue or another. I am sharing the few workout choices that worked choices that helped me exercise despite my backache.

These exercises may not be as effective as a high-intensity workout but they’ll are fairly good options to stay fit and overtime, enjoy benefits that last.

1. Walking Exercise

This one has become my favourite and I plan to continue doing it. The video that led me to the joys of walking exercise –

There are several variations on the theme and I suggest you explore them to find something better suited to your needs. Walking exercise doesn’t require a big space, specific outfit, and it won’t make you sweat enough to need a shower. It can be done indoors within a few minutes which rules out any big breaks in the usual schedule.

If you don’t have any problems sticking to a faster-paced workout, you can switch walking with running and modify the exercises in between with something more demanding.

2. Easy yoga moves on the bed

A quick google search will give you a whole bunch of yoga exercises that can be easily done on a bed. If you’re thinking that any exercise done on bed can’t possibly be effective, let me tell you that yoga poses are all designed to stretch several muscles in one move and give results that last.

Yoga is a true gift to humanity with its benefit going beyond the physical.

I followed this video and I was able to do most of the poses on the bed despite my backache. In fact, doing these exercises helped me sleep better.

If you’re also interested in meditation, you can experiment with mindful yoga.

3. Stretches

Usually down before and after the actual workout, if you find yourself unable to do a whole exercise routine, just stretch your body. This is not exactly a substitute for targeted exercising, but it will leave you feeling refreshed and spry.

If you sit for long hours, memorise this video and repeat them at least twice a day.

4. Rap Dance

The best for the last!

I stumbled across this video a couple of years ago, and it became a part of my ‘fun workout’ routine.

Most of Danielle Peazer’s workouts are fun and result-oriented. This particular video helped me lose a few pounds a couple of years ago. If you find yourself pressed for time, try this Hip Hop Dance.

If you share my hygiene paranoia, you can’t sit on the floor or the yoga mat and not take a shower afterwards which restricts what we can do for a ‘quick’ workout. All of these options have worked for me. Hopefully, they’ll work for you too. Now, they may not give you instant results (nothing will, really!), but they will bring you the benefits you need.

These workouts are –

Easy to follow
Quick and dirty
Suitable for the procrastinators, lazy bums, and those with aches and pains.

If you know of an exercise form or a youtube video that can be added to this list, please do share it in the comments below. If we can create an exhaustive list of (relatively) convenient workouts, we’ll be doing a lot of people a much-needed favour.