Morning Exercises

Is your health worth 30 minutes a day? Benefits include burning more calories, lowering your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, helping you to sleep better, warding off more colds and flu, reducing stress, improving balance and flexibility and generally improving your health and losing weight! So, let’s get moving!

Stretch and warm-up:

1. Neck stretches: Head side to side, then circles down, circles overhead

2. Shoulders: Forward, back, up and down

3. Stretch hands to the sky, then to the floor; turn to each side and stretch

4. Side to side leg stretches; cross feet and touch toes; reverse feet and repeat

5. Arm circles out to the side, small then bigger; reverse

Strength-building:      

1. Using hand towel, grasp and pull in opposite directions up and down in front of you, sets of 10, then switch arms; over head side to side and behind head; rest in between

2. Push-outs: Door frame or dresser, 3 sets of 10, rest in between

3. Standing leg lifts, to the side, front, back, 10 each; total of 60

4. Squats standing behind and holding on to chair, 3 sets of 8;

5. Using hand weights, lift with thumbs together up/down 10x, rest, repeat

6. Raise 8# weight overhead and down behind head; lift 6x; rest, repeat

7. Swing free! Face front from waist down; swing arms side/side shoulder ht.

8. Crunches: on floor; 10, rest, total of 30; OR crunches while standing

9. On stomach, lift head and feet flexing everything. Let go. Repeat 6x

10. On all fours, left knee to nose, then extend, 6x; reverse; repeat faster

11. Cat stretch, curled with head down then flat with head up

12. Sit up, Indian style, feet together; bend forward and stretch 4x

13. Same position, extend legs to each side, grab knee, pull down chest 6x

14. Breathe deeply, arm over to toe like a ballerina, sit up and over again, 6x; sit up tall, stretch, open arms and relax . . .

Aerobic, 20-30 minutes; Combine with Stretching  or Alternate Days

1. Lunges with hand weights, 2 sets of 10, rest between

2. Go for a brisk walk, gently jog in place or on a rebounder or walk on a porch with hand weights

3. Go up and down on step, inside, or better yet, outside in the sunshine!

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