5 Ways to Exercise in the Kitchen While Cooking Dinner

One of the best ways to workout for many people is to add some exercise to their day by making it an effortless part of their everyday routine. The kitchen can be one of the best places to add some basic exercise moves while cooking. Even the most unmotivated person can add some fun and exercise to their time in the kitchen by adding a few of these moves while they bake, boil, and sautee.

Kitchen Dancing
One of the easiest ways to add some cardio to your cooking is to download a few dozen of your favorite motivating songs to the ipod or keep a CD player or radio in the kitchen. Music can be a great motivator to dance while you cook. Slow ballads are a great start to a warm up, while favorite fast-dance tunes will make you want to do your favorite Lady Gaga routine while the pasta boils. Clear some space in your kitchen, turn up the music and dance while you cook. Dancing is one of the easiest and most individual forms of exercise and it can help burn off those stubbon pounds while you bake.

Countertop Push Ups
Even the most out of shape cook can benefit from adding some countertop push ups to their daily routine. Whether you set a goal for doing as few as five everyday or work towards a more aggressive push up count, countertop push ups can be done anytime you are in the kitchen.

The first step is to position yourself about two feet from the countertop, with feet together. Extend your arms until they touch the edge of the kitchen countertop and slowly lean in. Once your chin is just above the countertop, use your arms to lift back up and repeat.

Stretch and Tone
The best way to stretch and tone in the kitchen is to make it a warm up exercise everytime you enter the kitchen to cook dinner. Start with basic warm up stretching moves like touching your toes a few times, reaching above your head, leaning sideways, and some basic head rolls.

Calf lifts can be done while you start dinner by simply lifting your heels off the floor, balancing on the ball of your feet. This simple move will help to tone and stretch your calves. Set a goal for at least 10 in a row to start and add more as your legs begin to feel more toned.

Dishwasher Squats
Who would have thought that you could get some exercise done while loading and unloading the dishwasher? Dishwasher squats can be added by adding a squat for every item you load or unload from the dishwasher. When you reach for an item to unload, add a squat, slowly standing back up each time. It may take longer to load or unload the dishwasher but adding some basic squats can help tone.

Cleaning While You Cook Exercises
When the dinner is well started and you have some wait time, consider doing a few cleaning chores in the kitchen. Wiping down countertops, cleaning windows, wiping down the refrigerator, or organizing the cupboards can all be simple ways to add some exercise while you wait for dinner to cook. For longer cooking times, you might consider pulling out the mop and bucket and washing the floor, or even doing a hand wash to get the kitchen floor extra clean. All of these simple kitchen cleaning exercises can add up to better fitness, especially for those who are not used to more advanced exercises.