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How to keep fitness effective in 15 minutes after tiring office hours
Full-time employees often feel tired after working for over eight hours. More often than not, many are mentally exhausted from the time spent at work and any thought of exercising disappears on the way home.
Exercising has been marketed as results-focused, brought about by high-intensity sweats and relentless effort. However, a high-intensity workout may add on to your stress. Hence, a simple maintenance routine that lasts less than 20 minutes is all you need.
Stretching
A simple way to get rid of lethargy and keep your body active is with some stretching. It gets your blood flowing, keeping your muscle and tendon flexible after a whole day of sitting down.
This prevents stiffness, which combats lethargy and prevents injuries due to sudden intense movement. Rolling the joints around your neck, shoulders and hips is a good starter for those with minimal movements throughout the day.
For those who want to take it a step further, reach for your toes while keeping your knees locked or touch your hands behind a straight back. These exercises target specific muscle groups (hamstrings and shoulder joints) to get a deeper activation of the nervous system and improve posture in the long run.
The best part? It only takes five to 15 minutes, depending on your level of mobility and the frequency of the routine. A good way to stay motivated and consistent is by setting a long-term goal.
A point to note is that while you need consistency, the real trick is to target every body part at least once to guarantee an overall improvement in mobility and to prevent imbalances from occurring.
Bodyweight circuits
A simple routine is good, but it might not be enough for individuals who are physically active and pressed for time.
Bodyweight circuits are the solution to this, as they provide a more complex workout within a 15-minute range or shorter.
This routine utilises a person’s weight as the resistance in workouts, but are conducted with higher efficiency and minimal rest in between. This requires a sharp burst of energy within a short timeframe, but it is enough to train strength and maintain the body’s conditioning.
To start, arrange bodyweight workouts (squats, push-ups, planks, jumping jacks, sit-ups and burpees) to target all muscle groups and systematically complete each set before moving on to the next one.
Once all of them are complete, start over from the first one in a back-to-back sequence for about three to four sets.
The intensity of bodyweight circuit training can be controlled depending on the duration of the overall timeframe and the number of exercises done, further training endurance and burning more calories.
This routine does not require a gym and you can do it at home, and still enjoy similar intensity without any equipment at all.
How much do you want it?
Exercising does not have to be difficult or long. Instead, it depends on the efficiency of the routine, in which we manage the limited time we have left and make the best of it.
However, the biggest hurdle to maintaining yourself is effort – to start a routine and stick to it – and it is not an easy task, especially after being worn down from the hours of work.
Keeping yourself fit and at your best depends on you – if you are serious about your health, you will make time for it.
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