How to exercise for free with little time!

I will simply explain how to build a balanced free exercise system and you can adapt it to achieve your own goals, if you want to lose weight you'll need to concentrate on cardiovascular exercises that burn fat, for strength you'll want to focus on low repetition exercises that make you have to really push. I will explain each exercise, what it does and tips on good technique.

To get the most from any exercise you do, you will need to fuel yourself with a good diet- exercise and diet go hand in hand, you wouldn't buy a Ferrari then put low grade fuel in the tank!

Here's the cool bit about free exercises- you wont need to buy anything at all, you simply use what's in you house, chairs, stairs, the floor, tables etc!

Decide on the times in the day you have 5 minutes to spare- it could be when you are waiting for the kettle to boil or the washing machine to finish so it wont eat into your day too much!

Then you need to build up a series of exercises that you do on specific days- so that you get a good all round workout. Bear in mind that exercises that get you really out of breath are cardiovascular which burns fat and ones that only have a few, hard to do repetitions build strength. So choose whether you want to lose weight or build strength or do a combination of both.

So, you have worked out the days you are going to do each group of exercises and whether you want to burn fat or build strength or a combination of both. The really important thing is to learn good technique of each exercise- bad technique means more chance of injury. Good technique combined with easy to reach goals to start with will keep you going for longer. The temptation to train too hard will simply mean you will injure yourself and stop exercising.

If you are really out of practice, then simply do one or two repetitions of each exercise and build up each week- ensure you actually enjoy the exercises and enjoy the results from realistic goals and you will exercise for longer!

Something that has to be stressed- always warm up before exercise and stretch afterwards- even if you have only 2 minutes to spare spend at least one of those two minutes doing warm up and stretching exercises.

Cardiovascular exercises to burn fat and build endurance.

Walking (the simplest of all)- build as much walking into your day as you have time for, can you drive less and walk more? What about parking further away and walk part of your journey? What about going for a small walk before work in the morning or after your evening meal?
Walking is great if you are quite unfit as it's easy to do gently, if you're getting fit, then walk so that you get out of breath.

Jogging- the next step up from walking but it does require you to have a good pair of training shoes as jogging on hard surfaces does jar your joints, fast walking is the safer option or slow jogging on soft surfaces such as grass, you can also walk for 2 minutes and jog for 2 minutes or less and build up to a steady jog.

Stairs- if you have stairs at home these provide a great place to get fit! rapid stair walking up then down for 5 minutes is excellent exercise- but, always hold onto the rail in case you slip.
Similarly, if you usually use a lift- use the stairs- it's free exercise!

Marching on the spot is the ideal alternative if you cannot go out- simply marching at pace on the spot for 5 minutes is a great warm up- in fact, it's often part of aerobic routines. If you want to make this more challenging- ensure you swing your arms high and bring your knees up to the point where your upper leg is horizontal to the floor.

Jogging on the spot- if you are already in reasonable fitness then you can jog on the spot- bringing your upper leg up so it's horizontal to the floor with each jog.

If you have space then skipping is great for a really quick endurance workout, building coordination as well as stamina. A simple skipping rope and enough space to be safe is all that's required, oh, and persistence if you are not good at skipping (like me)!

Easy

Walking, marching on the spot, gardening, cleaning the house at a pace. etc

Harder

Rapid walking, rapid marching on the spot, slow jogging, stair climbing, hopping on alternate legs (5 hops each).

Hard

Fast jogging alternating with 100 yard sprints, rapid stair climbing for 10 minutes, skipping using a skipping rope (this builds stamina and coordination- which is why boxers do it), swimming, star jumps, tuck jumps. etc

Stretching is common sense- when you exercise a muscle, it tends to contract afterwards, by stretching it you maximise your flexibility whilst maintaining supple joints.

If you haven't got the time for a full all over stretch then at least- stretch the muscles you've been using.

The simplest and the most instinctive stretch is similar to the stretch you do when you wake in the morning- really stretch your arms above your head and push out for a count of ten, similarly do this for your legs lying down- ideally do both your arms and legs at the same time.

Head, neck and shoulders.
Slowly rotate your head so your chin is on your chest, then roll it to one side then the other- beware of tilting your head back as this can compress your upper spine, do this gently and slowly.

Now roll your shoulders forwards 5 times, then backwards, then bring them up to your head and down. Finally, swing your arms in a slow and gentle circle forwards then backwards.

Hips and knees
With your hands on your hips and your legs about shoulder with apart, circle your hips keeping your upper body and legs as still as possible so that you're working your hips in isolation. Circle them 7 times in each direction. Now roll your pelvis back and forwards- this will be a small movement, particularly if you happen to be male!

For your knees- place your hands just above your knees on your thighs and circle your knees parallel to the floor 7 times in each direction.

Legs
These stretches are best done after exercise when you are suitably warmed up and your legs muscles have done some work.

-Quad stretch: Stand on one leg (support yourself with your free hand on a table top if you need to) raising your lower leg by bending it at the knee and bringing the heal up to your bottom, holding it with one hand. Keep the upper leg as vertical as possible- you should feel a good stretch on your upper legs muscles. If you have weak knees take care not too overstretch. Hold this for 20 seconds then stretch the other leg.

-Calf stretch: Support most of your weight on a one leg slightly bent at the knees and behind the other leg, the other leg is out in front of you kept completely straight- the idea is to stretch out the front leg's calf muscle. Hold for 20 seconds then repeat with the other leg.

Press ups
Women support your legs on your knees, men support your legs on your feet with legs fully outstretched. You can support your legs at the feet when you get stronger if you want to. Press ups are a great upper body strength builder, working shoulders, upper arms, and chest. Start with you ams shoulder width apart beneath each shoulder supporting you at arms length from the floor. To do a full press up you lower your upper body so that your forehead touches the floor then press back up. These may seem very tough to start with but you develop strength with this exercise very quickly.

Variations-These can be added when you have built sufficient strength to easily do 20 press ups: wide arm- this tends to exercise the chest more, a hard press up is to place your hands so they forefinger and thumb touch making a diamond shape in the gap between your hands- this is where you lower your nose! This is a tough press up- don't attempt until you are strong enough to do ordinary press ups very easily. You can also also make noraml press ups harder by raising your feet on a chair or even higher- this places much mre weight onto your shoulders.

(See video below)

Bath/ Chair dips
Dip are great for building shoulders, chest and upper arms and all you need is a flat, stable surface about 3 feet off the floor- a solid chair or fixed bath are great, i do these on the bath before a shower! Simply support your body on your hands pointing forwards about shoulder width apart so that your legs are bent with your upper leg parallel to the floor. Keep your bottom as close to the hands as possible so that there is a very small gap between you and the chair/bath.

To do a dip you lower yourself so that your upper arms are parallel to the floor and raise your self again. At first these may feel tough but they build your upper body quite rapidly and get easier. You can also vary the dips with your arms wider than shoulder width and change the pace to do them quite slowly to build strength.
(See video below).

Make exercise part of your daily routine- this is key to keeping going and it doesn't need to eat into your time either. There are many moments in everyone's day where they're waiting for something- a kettle to boil, the microwave to ping, a computer to boot up- add all these waiting minutes up and that's enough for a full workout!

If you have brief intense workout routines you can do them in these waiting moments- and if you make them fun, you'll be much more likely to do them!

Make exercise fun- there is no need to make exercising a chore- in fact, that is counter productive- keeping exercise fun is an excellent way to do them without really noticing!

Put on your favourate music to exercise to.

Turn exercise into a game- such as the children's movement song- "heads shoulders knees and toes".
Use some dice to select your exercises so that you have a random element to stop you getting stale.
Exercise with friends and colleagues.