Exercising at Home: 20-Minute Workout for Every Room in the House

Got 20 minutes? I don't. If you do, you are a better person than I. If I ever have 20 minutes, you know what I do? Take a tiny nap, make myself a spicy snack or find a movie on TV I like in which I have seen before. That way I don't get mad about missing the end when my 20 minutes is up.

Who am I??? I'm nobody special; just an average, ordinary person, with too much on their plate - complete with a family, household and full-time job to take care of. So how am I supposed to find 20 minutes out of my day and do a workout?

At first it seemed impossible, but I soon realized it was all about choice and priorities. Either I choose to eat a snack or choose to do two sets of push-ups. Either I choose to sit on my couch and watch TV or do 25 sit-ups with my couch in my living room. Either I choose to take a quick nap, which usually ends up a little longer than I anticipated, or get out my jump rope and jump rope in my garage. (I live in Wisconsin, and it's hard to jump rope in the snow.) So, it's all about choice.

Remember how you trained at your job for a couple of weeks before they let you go off on your own? Same rule applies to your workout. You need to train yourself about making choices. It's always a little difficult at first, but with some persistence, you will be well on your way to choosing a healthier lifestyle which definitely comes with its own rewards.

So without further hesitation, let's get on with it.

The following exercises are merely suggestions and should be adapted to accommodate any physical limitations. And always remember to check with your doctor first before starting any exercise program.

Before beginning any exercises, be sure to stretch out first. You can begin at the top and work or way down or vice versa. I like to start at the top and work my way down on Monday's, Wednesdays and Fridays. I do the opposite on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And I take Sundays off.

Stretching in the Living Room

1. Begin with reaching out with your arms and making small circles in the air. Eventually make larger circles. Proceed to circle your arms in the opposite directions and go from larger to smaller.

2. Reach up in the air with your arms and stand on your tip-toes and release. Do this a few times and remember to take deep cleansing breaths.

3. Sit on the floor with legs straight out in front of you. Reach with your arms and try to touch your toes and then release. It's ok if you can't touch your toes....I can't touch my toes either. Remember this is stretching time, no need to impress anyone. Try not to jerk fast when you try and touch your toes, just do smooth, controlled movements.

4. While on the floor, spread your legs to a comfortable "V" position resting on the floor. Reach out with your right hand and try to touch your left foot and release. Remember to breathe and make smooth, non-jerky movements. Now, try to touch your right foot with your left hand and release. Take some deep cleansing breaths again. Do this about 10 times.

5. OK.....on to the next room

Moving in the Kitchen

Bring out one of your kitchen chairs and place in the middle of the kitchen floor. You will use this chair as your "helper" while you do these next few exercises.

1. Stand in the back of the chair and hold on to the top of the chair with the closest arm to the back of the chair. With your toe pointed, lift leg as smooth as possible (closest to the chair), trying to keep leg straight out in front of you then bring back to floor. Do this about 10 times, then turn yourself 180 degrees and do the same thing with the opposite side.

2. Next, by holding on to the back of the chair and keeping your back straight, squat down (bend knees) and come back up. Do this about 10 times. Turn facing the other way, hold on to the back of the chair with the other hand and do 10 more squats. Take some cleansing breaths again.

The Dining Room

1. Pull out one of the dining room chairs and hold on to the top of the chair with the closest arm to the back of the chair. With your toe pointed, lift leg as smooth as possible (closest to the chair), trying to keep leg straight out in back of you then bring back to floor. Do this about 10 times, then turn yourself 180 degrees and do the same thing with the opposite side.

2. With your toe pointed, with leg closet to chair, lift leg as smooth as possible trying to keep leg straight out to the side of you then bring back to floor. Repeat this about 10 times, then turn yourself 180 degrees and do the same thing with the opposite side.

Garage, Basement or Room with Sturdy Floor

1. This is where you can do some fun aerobic type exercises. You choose, but make it fun and make sure you have enough room. If you are in the garage, you might want to move the car out into the driveway to make sure you have enough room. What you want to do here is to do something for approximately 7-10 minutes. Try mixing it up. For example...jump rope, running in place, jumping jacks, (yes, I said jumping jacks), or just jumping up and down. You can even crank up the music on your stereo or mp3 player and do some fast dancing! Your goal is to be doing some vigorous movement for approximately 7-10 minutes to get your heart beating a faster and blood flowing to your muscles. When finished, take some deep cleansing breaths and move on to the next room.

The Family Room

1. Lay down on the floor in front of a couch or large chair with knees up and tuck your feet underneath the couch or chair. This is the same as someone holding your feet in the gym while you do some sit-ups or stomach crunches. Place your hands either behind your head or neck or crossed in front of your chest and proceed to lift your head up towards your knees. You don't need to sit up all the way, just enough to work the muscles in your stomach area. Do about 10 and stop and take a few cleansing breaths. Do about 10 more and take some more cleansing breaths. You can do more or fewer depending on what you are capable of.

2. Get up off the floor and get something to use as a weight for your hand. Make sure it is easy to hang on to. Believe it or not, but I like to use a small bag of rice or a can of vegetables. Just make sure it is something you can hang on to easily. Go back to the family room and sit on the couch, preferably more towards the front edge. Hold your bag of rice or canned good in one hand and hold your arm straight out in front of you. Bend your arm at the elbow and lift your bag of rice towards you. Straighten arm out again. Do this approximately 10 times and then do this with the other arm. Rest for approximately 1 minute. Then repeat lifting your rice again for another 10 times with one arm and then with the other arm. You can do as many sets of these as you are capable of.

The Bedroom

We will end with doing some stretching exercises in the bedroom.

1. Reach up in the air with your arms and stand on your tip-toes and release. Do this a few times and remember to take deep cleansing breaths.

2. Sit in the middle of the bed with legs straight out in front of you. Reach with your arms and try to touch your toes and then release. Try not to jerk fast when you try and touch your toes, just do smooth, controlled movements.

4. Spread your legs to a comfortable "V" position while sitting on the middle of the bed. Reach out with your right hand and try to touch your left foot, hold for approximately 5 seconds and release. Remember to breathe and make smooth, non-jerky movements. Now, try to touch your right foot with your left hand, hold for 5 seconds and release. Take some deep cleansing breaths again.

Congratulations! You have just worked out your entire house!