Jawbone, a consumer technology and wearable products company, analyzed hundreds of thousands of their consumers steps every day for a year and correlated them with weather conditions in their users area. Not surprisingly, they found that as temperatures dropped, so did the level of physical activity.
As temperatures in the area continue to slump into uncomfortable levels, members of the Crdova Recreational Sports Center gave tips for workouts to complete from the comfort (and warmth) of your own home.
Get a jump-start on your New Years resolutions and try some of the workouts below.
Warm-up (5-10 reps)
The warm-up in any workout is important, said Kate Emmenegger, a senior in the College of Health and Human Sciences and personal trainer at the CoRec. Allowing muscles to stretch before a workout will help to prevent injury and will increase your heart rate in anticipation of more exertion.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Reverse Warrior
This will really increase your heart rate because you will be moving your body in different planes of motion here. As you step forward into a lunge, you are going to reach your right hand back to your right hamstring and reach your left arm up and over your body. Step together and repeat on the other side. This will target the hamstrings, the quads and the torso with the rotation.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Glute Bridge
This is for activation of the glutes, Emmenegger said. Heels should be in-line with the butt and arms are flat at your sides. Youre going to inhale, then exhale, push through the heels, lift the hips and squeeze the (glute muscles) at the top and then inhale back down.
Advanced option: Repeat the exercise as shown above but alternate legs, creating a tripod with your body. More instability in movements leads to targeting the smaller muscles in your body.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Inchworm
Youre going to stand with your feet hip-distance apart. You hinge forward at the hips. You want to make sure your back is nice and flat as you go down and you feel that nice stretch in your hamstrings. Youre going to walk yourself out until you are in a plank position. Inhale going down as you bring yourself into Upward Dog, exhale as you go back into Downward Dog. Then walk your hands back in and come back up.
Advanced option: Add a push-up as you lower your body into Downward Dog to add more of a challenge to your upper body muscles.
Kaley Higgins | Staff PhotographerKaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Cat Cow
You want to be in a table-top position, hands are directly underneath the shoulders and knees are directly underneath the hips. Inhale, arch the back, tuck your chin into your chest. Then exhale, look up, pushing your hips down and your chest up.
Upper Body (30 seconds to one minute)
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Incline Chair Push-Up
This can be used with a chair, a table, really anything that keeps your body at an angle, said Amanda Henning, a freshman in the College of Health and Human Sciences and fitness consultant at the CoRec. To make it harder, youll pull your knee to your chest. We call these Spiderman push-ups.
Advanced option: Switch your body around to a decline chair push-up, putting feet on the chair and hands shoulder-width apart on the floor in front. This will work your back and chest harder than a regular push-up.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Dips
Its harder to do these with your legs straight so you can try either straight or bent for this workout. This will work your triceps.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Superman
This exercise can be performed with both sides moving simultaneously or alternating lifting the left arm and right leg, or right arm and left leg as though in a swimming motion. These stationary moves will target the muscles in the lower back.
Lower Body (10-15 reps or 30 second stations)
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Squats
Your feet are going to be flat on the ground, toes facing forward. I describe it as squatting over a toilet seat that you dont want your butt to touch, so you are pushing your hips back, keeping your torso tall, trying to keep your thighs parallel to the ground, said Becca Hooper, a senior in the College of Health and Human Sciences and personal trainer at the CoRec.
Advanced option: After squatting down, quickly spring upward to engage your calves.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Lunge
Instead of thinking about the front leg, think about dropping the knee down. Your weight should be in your front heel.
Advanced option: Bring your back foot up onto a chair, keeping your torso tall and your shoulders back. Another option is clock lunges in which you lunge to the front, the back, the side and all the diagonals of the lunge.
Kaley Higgins | Staff PhotographerKaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Step up
You could do the step ups on a staircase, too, if the chair is too tall. All you need to be sure of is that you get your entire foot on (the surface). This way, it is engaging your entire leg in the step, but if your heel is off the surface you could slip or cause injury.
Advanced option: Jump with both feet instead of steps for a more explosive workout.
Full Body (12-20 reps)
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Kickboxing Drill
A series of punches and kicks makes this drill an all-over body workout. Starting with a cross-body punch, the motion engages your shoulder and abdominal muscles. Additional knee work, and jabs will help to strengthen your core and deliver a stronger motion as more repetitions are added.
Modified Jumping Jack
This one acts as a pattern, Out, in, up, back, said Katie Hake, a senior in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Another thing you could do is mountain climbers, which is essentially the same set up but you drive your knee into your chest and alternate legs instead.
Kaley Higgins | Staff Photographer
Burpee
Start feet nice and wide, squat down, hands between your feet. Hop or walk back into a plank, come back to the squat and then stand up again tall.
The best time to do a workout is the time you do, so schedule it like you would a class to kind of keep yourself accountable, Hake said. There are still benefits, even if you cant work out 30 minutes at a time; just 10 minutes a few times throughout the day does it too.
Resources:
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