Fat Chance (35 page)

Find a park bench near where your child is playing. Step up on the bench and step back down twenty times; switch to the other leg. For added intensity, when stepping up with right foot, swing left leg into a side leg raise before stepping back down. Repeat with the other side.

Climb up to the monkey-bars launching pad. With your feet thrust out in front of you on the launching pad and with straight legs, grab the side bars with both hands. Keeping your legs straight, pull yourself toward the bars with both arms, in a chin-up motion. Allow your arms to straighten as you descend to the starting position. Repeat twenty times.

Note: Find a friend to spot you during this exercise.

If your playground has half-height concrete steps (like risers), position yourself on the bottom step and then jump with both feet to the next step up. Jump back down to the starting step. Repeat sequence for one minute, jumping up and back down as quickly as you can.

Note: If your area doesn’t have half-height steps, simply jump rapid-fire while standing in place for one full minute.

Invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan, this simple, straightforward interval routine builds both stamina and strength. Each interval includes twenty seconds of exercise followed by ten seconds of rest. One routine lasts four minutes and includes eight intervals of one and
only one
specific exercise.

1. To begin, select one exercise from the list below to include in your Tabata Routine. (See glossary that follows this section for definitions of each.)

2. Next, follow the two-step process below, eight times in a row: For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible. For ten seconds, rest.

That’s it! Two simple steps. Seems easy, right?
Not
!

The next time you sit down to catch your favorite show, instead of fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks,
exercise
your way through them. Each commercial lasts roughly thirty seconds, and most commercial breaks include four or five commercials. Take your pick from the exercises listed here to complete during each thirty-second interval, and by the end of
American Idol
you’ll have a much fitter physique!

Below, you’ll find some plank exercises. Plank is one of the most effective abs exercises out there because it’s impossible to cheat while doing it! Plus, you can do fewer plank-holds than traditional sit-ups and see twice the results. Who doesn’t love that?

To get into plank, assume a prone position on the floor and keep your feet together with the balls of your feet on the floor. Place your hands shoulder-width apart underneath your shoulders. Tighten your abs and glutes, and don’t arch or dip your back—you should be as straight as a plank. Several variations are below, to keep the exercise interesting and challenging.

Hold yourself in plank position, forearms resting on the floor. Remember to keep your neck in neutral position, neither tucking your chin, nor raising your chin into the air.

Hold yourself in plank position, arms straight and neck in neutral position.

Begin by lying on your right side with elbow on floor under shoulder and hips and feet stacked. Push hips up, forming straight line from head to heels. Extend left arm above shoulder, then bring left arm under body, rotating upper body to the right. Hold for one count and repeat. Switch to left side after ten reps. Alternate sides to fill the time allotted.

Begin in straight-arm plank position. Lower yourself to the bottom of a push-up, where your elbows are bent and tucked into your sides, your upper body and knees remain off the floor and your neck is in neutral position. Work to descend low enough for your nose to touch the floor. Hold for three counts and then raise yourself back to straight-arm plank. Hold for three counts and then lower once again to the bottom of a push-up. Repeat.

Begin in a straight-arm plank position with feet together and the balls of your feet on the floor. Place your hands shoulder-width apart underneath your shoulders, and focus your eyes on a spot six to eight inches in front of your body’s position. Lower your torso to the ground until your arms form a ninety-degree angle and then raise yourself using your arms. Breathe out as you push. Repeat.

Begin by lying on the floor with legs outstretched in front of you and hands positioned beside each hip. Bend your knees slightly and raise your legs into the air. Begin “pedaling” forward in the air in slow, sweeping motions, keeping your abdominal muscles tight and remembering to breathe. Pumping legs in alternating fashion away from your chest, complete twenty “rotations” and then rest for ten seconds. Repeat to fill time allotted. For added intensity, keep arms raised straight above your head.

Begin by lying on the floor with legs outstretched in front of you and hands positioned beside each hip. Bend your knees slightly and raise your legs into the air. Begin “pedaling” backward in the air in slow, sweeping motions, keeping your abdominal muscles tight and remembering to breathe. Pumping legs in alternating fashion toward your chest, complete twenty “rotations” and then rest for ten seconds. Repeat to fill time allotted. For added intensity, keep arms raised straight above your head.

Begin by standing with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on hips. Step forward with one leg, landing heel-first in front of you. Your knee should be at a ninety-degree angle. Hold for one count, and then pushing off of your heel, return to starting position. Alternate legs to fill time allotted.

Note: Remember to keep hands on hips and be sure your knee stays behind your toes as you lunge.

Begin by standing with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on hips. Step backward with one leg, landing toe-first behind you. The opposite knee should be at a ninety-degree angle. Hold for one count, and then pushing off of your toe, return to starting position. Alternate legs to fill time allotted.

Note: Remember to keep hands on hips and be sure your knee stays behind your toes on leg that is bent.

Starting with feet together, bend over and place your hands on the floor. In one fluid motion, raise your arms straight in front of you toward the ceiling, making sure that your biceps are beside your ears and sit down on an imaginary chair. Your knees should not go beyond your toes. Keep your neck and back straight like a launching pad and your thighs parallel to the floor. Hold for the allotted time.

If you’re up for a real killer of a workout, give this one a try—a favorite go-to exercise of athletes of all kinds. Buy an inexpensive stopwatch, and time yourself—do thirty seconds of the first exercise, and thirty seconds of the second, as follows.

See glossary that follows this section for descriptions of these exercises.

*
See chart beginning on page 196 for modified version of this exercise.

Set the microwave timer for five minutes and clean your bathroom as fast as you can, making sure you break a sweat while doing it. For an added challenge, set the timer for another five minutes as you speed-vacuum the carpets and speed-sweep the floors. Crank up the tunes if you need a boost to your heart rate.

Don’t sit while you talk on the phone; instead, pace back and forth in your living room or kitchen.

While standing at your sink washing dishes, do leg lifts to the side for fifty counts and then to the back for fifty counts. Switch legs. For a real challenge, work your way up to two hundred counts to the side and two hundred counts to the back on each leg. Your leg muscles will be exhausted, but your dishes will be ultraclean!

In the time it takes to brush your teeth, you can do fifty bent-knee leg raises to the back per leg. To execute, stand tall with both feet together. Using the countertop to balance yourself, stand on one leg and pull the opposite foot perpendicularly toward the standing leg’s ankle. Keeping your weight on your standing leg, lift the opposite foot behind you until you feel your glute muscle contract. Return to starting position. That’s one rep. If you’re a thorough toothbrusher, you should be able to complete about fifty reps per leg in the time it takes you to tend to this chore. Your teeth—and your butt—will look better as a result.

While folding clothes, separate clean clothes into piles—one pile for underwear, one for socks, one for towels, etc. Place one pile in front of you on the couch or an ottoman and assume a squat position, making sure that your knees stay behind your toes. Fold the entire pile of clothes while in your squat and then stand up and rest your legs for thirty seconds. Repeat with the next pile until all of your laundry is folded.

If you find yourself sitting behind the wheel of a car all day long, turn those commutes into a glute-burner. As you drive, squeeze your buttocks together and hold for one count before releasing the muscles. Repeat to exhaustion, which might mean five hundred or even one thousand contractions. Sure, you won’t be able to get out of your car to get the mail upon returning home, but that’s what kids are for, right?