Weight, BMI and visiting the gym; Junk, tasty and munching away, these six terms have become an important part of each urban individuals life. Balancing them all is the task that most fail at, striving for a healthy heart everyone aims at.
We have looked into simple methods that each individual can implement in order to maintain that BMI as well munch on those cheesy, delicious meals.
1) Walking: This is one of the simplest exercises and can be very enjoyable, especially if the weather is nice. Walking helps tone up your legs and improves overall health. Even if the weather does not permit you to go outside, you can still get an effective walking workout at home. If you have a flight of stairs either inside your home or your building, go up and down them a few times. This will also help you get some low impact aerobic exercise as well. Walk for 40 minutes 4 times a week and watch as your weight reduces. If your weight is 70kgs and you walk for 40 minutes, you will burn 162 calories.
2) Swimming: Swimming is one the most refreshing exercises, especially during the hot summer months. It is also the exercise that burns maximum calories. Along with this, it also has many other health benefits such as building muscle strength, toning upper and lower body and many more. You should aim to swim 20-25 minutes 3 days a week. If you can, swim laps as this is by far the most popular way to lose weight. An individual weighing 70kgs can burn up to 450 calories while swimming laps vigorously or swimming breaststroke.
3) Water Aerobics: Water exercises are not only limited to swimming. When you step into a pool, your body reduces to one-tenth its original weight. This makes it a perfect time to increase lower body strength, power and agility. A great aerobic exercise that can be done, even if you don’t know how to swim is the power jump. A person weighing 70kgs can burn approximately 145 calories in 30 minutes with water aerobics. Following are the steps for different types of power jumps:
i. You should always start with in shallow water, with the water level between your ribcage and underarm.
ii. For 6-8 minutes, jog around the pool doing kicks, jumping jacks, strikes and knee lifts. This warms up the body.
iii. Lightly stretch the quadriceps, calf muscles, hip flexors and hamstrings.
iv. Repeat the moves in step 2 but with a higher intensity for 8-10 minutes. Make the movements long and exaggerated.
v. The first jump to perform is a tuck jump. Start by standing up straight. Keep your knees and ankles together as you pull the knees into the chest. Return to a standing position. While doing this, move the arms in a circular motion at the side of the body. Bend at the elbow as the legs straighten.
vi. Next, carry out a frog jump. Begin with the toes, knees and thighs slightly turned out. Bend your arms into a diamond shape, with the fists close to the chest. Push your arms down to your hips while lifting your legs up and into a diamond shape. Make sure the knees point to opposite sides at the top of the jump and imitate frog legs. Return to the starting position.
vii. Execute a scissors jump. Start in a standing position. As you jump, one leg movies straight forward and other movies directly behind your body. Alternate your legs in the front and back position. The arms should move in opposition to your legs.
viii. Kick your legs and jog for two or three minutes.
ix. Finally, you must remember that any weight loss exercises are incomplete without stretching. Stretch the quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors and calves deeply.
4) Dancing: Dancing is a fabulous form of exercise because not only does it help you lose weight, it’s also a great way to have fun. Choose a dance form based on not only the amount of calories it burns but also one you like best as you’ll be more likely to stick with it in the longer run.
There are a variety of options ranging from salsa and hip-hop which are vigorous to ballroom and jazz which are slower but still burn calories. You can burn about 190 calories through fast dancing and if you’re slow dancing then you can burn about 100 calories. This is assuming that you weigh 70kgs.
5) Squats: In addition to losing weight overall, squats also tone up your legs and buttocks. To perform a squat, stand with your feet apart in such a way that your toes, knees and hips are in a straight line. Pull your belly burn towards your spine and contract your abdominal muscles. Slowly lower your body as though you’re lowering yourself into a chair. Make sure your knees are behind your toes. If you can, go down until your butt is in line with your knees. If not, then go as low as you can. Keeping the weight in your heels, slowly push your body back to starting position. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times. You can burn about 125 calories in a 30 minute session while doing squats if you weigh around 70kgs.
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