Sit in Front of the TV and Get Fit!
Kids – and plenty of adults – love to watch TV, and in a lot of respects, this is a positive thing. TV is an ideal way to take some time out and relax, and it can be highly educational too. However, the problem comes when we are sitting too much, and the modern lifestyle that many of us follow involves a lot of sitting during the day. If you add more sitting thanks to TV, you could be making yourself very sick.
Studies have shown that for every hour of TV you watch, you’ll shorten your life by as much as 22 minutes. Not only that but there appears to be an increase in those developing cancer (especially lung and colon cancer) when you sit for long periods of time. Add to this the circulation issues you can experience, and suddenly TV doesn’t seem like such a great idea anymore.
However, it can be okay as long as you are fit and active during the day or if you’re not if you can combine your TV watching with exercise. More self-care tips.
Use Commercial Breaks
What do you do when the commercials come in during your favorite shows? If you’re like a lot of people, you’ll either watch them, or you’ll reach for your cellphone and scroll through social media until they’re finished. Perhaps you’ll go and make a drink or grab a snack.
However, it would be far better to use this time to exercise. It might only be for two or three minutes, but if you’re watching two or three hours of TV and you exercise during every commercial break, this will soon add up. Even a small amount of exercise is better than none at all, and therefore using this time effectively is a great idea.
Of course, if you’re using a streaming service, there won’t be any ad breaks, but you can create your own. Every twenty minutes, pause the show and do some exercise for two minutes before restarting it. You’ll soon get into the rhythm. The great thing about this is that you can do this no matter what kind of health you are in; you can even do this before cataract surgery, as there is no evidence to suggest that TV watching permanently damages the eyes.
Do Circuits
If you want to know what kind of exercises you might benefit most from while you fit them in to your TV watching, circuits are a great choice. You don’t even have to wait until the ad breaks to get started.
Begin by looking at the length of the show you want to watch. Once you know that, you can create a circuit routine that matches. So, it could be 30 minutes, an hour, or something else. Spend five minutes doing each exercise and then move on to something else, and all of the actions can be done while still watching the TV. Or perhaps you don’t want to time things. In that case, you can have a list of different exercises and switch from one to another after each scene ends, for example.
Yoga
If you practice yoga, you’ll already know how good it can be for you. It’s relaxing, improves your overall strength, and will build your balance and flexibility too. Some people like to practice yoga in silence, but if you don’t mind a little noise while you’re doing each exercise, having the TV on at the same time could work out well.
You’ll simply need to clear some space in your living room or bedroom (perhaps adding a yoga mat for comfort and safety), and then carry out a routine while your show plays. You should find that your yoga routine feels easier and that you can reduce a lot of stress because you’re focusing on the screen and letting your other troubles drift away.
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