5 EXERCISES YOU CAN DO ON YOUR COMMUTE

November 20, 2017 by Renee Tavoularis

Reprinted with permission from http://jennifercassetta.com/

The average American spends about fifty minutes commuting to and from work every day. If you live in NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago or Washington D.C. chances are you’re spending over an hour every day either in your car or on mass transit, in most cases, sitting on your butt.

Even with the best intentions of following a healthy lifestyle, between our work commute and time spent sitting at a desk for close to eight hours, we definitely fall short of the activity levels of our ancestors.

So, why not take advantage of that commute time to squeeze in some exercise to help strengthen your core, perfect your posture, ease stress and even have better sex.  Here’s five exercises that you can do on your commute to help you achieve that and more:  

SHOULDER BLADE CONTRACTIONS FOR BETTER POSTURE:

Sit up as straight as possible and picture a string pulling the crown of your head up towards the ceiling. Engage your core and begin to stick your chest out by pulling your shoulder blades (scapula) towards the midline of your body. Squeeze together for 5 seconds and relax. Repeat this twenty times.

ENGAGE YOUR CORE FOR A FLATTER STOMACH:

You hear it at yoga class and your personal trainer always reminds you to do it, but do you really know how to engage your core? You do have to tighten your abs, but it’s deeper than that, literally. Your true core, or tranverse abdominus, is the muscle deep within your abdomen that surrounds your spine like a girdle. To tighten it, draw your bellybutton in towards your spine, contract your abs and hold for five seconds and release. Repeat this twenty times.   

SEATED CRUNCHES FOR YOUR CORE:

While sitting on the bus or subway, why not work on your inner sixpack? First and always, engage your core while keeping your hands by your sides, if you can press your hands onto the seat, even better. Lift both knees and thighs off of the seat simultaneously, hold for five seconds and rest. Repeat twenty times. If this feels too difficult you can lift one leg at a time. Drivers beware; this exercise is not for you.

KEGELS FOR…

Here’s the deal: your pelvic floor muscles need some love too. When strengthening the pubococcygeus muscles of the pelvic floor women can reap benefits like easier childbirth, less chance of incontinence after childbirth and yes, better sex.

Simply pretend that you are stopping yourself mid-flow from urinating or pooping (sorry, there’s no pretty way to say this). Hold for three seconds and release. Repeat twenty times.

SING TO BURN MORE CALORIES AND RELIEVE STRESS:

Belting out some tunes is a great way to burn some extra calories, though it may be annoying to the other subway and bus riders, so perhaps this one is just for drivers. During 20 minutes of singing, a person who weighs 150 lbs. can burn about 34 calories while sitting down. As an added bonus, singing helps relieve stress, improve your mood and lower your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate. Create a great playlist with lots of rock-opera or your favorite tunes and sing yourself thin!
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