No-Frills Fitness Solutions

Reader Contribution by Mother Earth Living Staff
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Think you don’t have time for fitness? Use any of these equipment-free solutions to fit in time to care for your body.

Photo by iStock

Walk It Out. The benefits of simple walking are numerous, and walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity. Walking for 30 minutes a day can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, maintain a healthy weight, improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of osteoporosis, reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer, and enhance mental well-being, according to the American Heart Association.

Free Trainers.Fitness Blender offers free workout videos ranging from low-impact to more difficult high-intensity interval training. This type of training is among the most effective ways to increase overall fitness. What’s more, the session length ranges from five to 75 minutes, meaning you can fit in a workout no matter how much time you have. Most routines require no equipment; others require only hand weights.

Just Dance. Dancing is free and requires no equipment (other than your iPod). Dancing not only tones muscles, burns calories and helps strengthen bones—it’s also been shown to reduce stress, make us happier and even sharpen our minds. In a study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, teaching the cha-cha to older adults twice a week for six months improved memory and cognitive function on a number of tests.

  • Published on Dec 9, 2014
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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