Jamie Kujawa

We?re the Barcalounger All Stars and the recliner is our natural habitat.

Still, you don?t want to become one with the upholstery. You sometimes do want to ski, and this summer you?ll need to be able to walk far enough into the rough to find your golf ball.

And need we mention swimsuit season, the cruelest season of all?
There are at-home workouts, circuits and routines you can do in your living room, bedroom or basement.

Sure you can buy a bunch of dumbbells, jump ropes, punching bags, yoga mats, stretch cords, exercise balls, or a Bowflex. And you can stack up piles of fitness books, magazines and DVDs. You can hang weight loss and muscle mass charts and drink the Richard Simmons? kool-aid.

But you?re not going to do that.

You?re going to roll off the Barcalounger and onto the carpets where you will use your own body weight to get more fit and slim than you may have been this winter.

Go for the gut

A great place to start slimming the body is usually the gut, also referred to by fitness experts as the core. Equally important as toning the abs is strengthening the back body, since the spine and the muscles surrounding it are the building blocks for a solid physical foundation.

There are safe ways to tone the core. Pilates and yoga both focus on the core and both are full body, calorie-burning workouts, requiring nothing but a mat for the most basic forms. Pilates was developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates as a fitness system to strengthen the deep torso muscles through control of the muscles. Yoga has been around for 5,000 years and combines breathing exercises with physical postures and meditation. There are different forms of both, but do be careful. Injury is prevalent in both practices if not done correctly.

Have a ball

Exercise balls offer all kinds of toning options. There are tons of ab and back strengthening exercises you can find with a little bit of research. You can choose your size and color, and when you?re tired of exercising you can throw it at your mocking children.

For the most part, you?re confined to a small space, about the length of your body. You?ll be amazed how many exercises can shave down that gut, more effectively than crunches or push ups.

The balance required too stay on the ball is a workout by itself, and helps in the strengthening process. And you can watch the game or Oprah while you?re on your ball.

Plyometrics

Varied workout programs are as easy to find as fitness magazines and Web sites, and most require nothing but a set of good blinds and no downstairs neighbors.

The range stretches from push-ups and squat-thrusts to lunges and squats, to belly dancing (yes, you read that right, it?s actually a productive fitness method) and plyometrics. That last sentence may have been a foreign language to some, and others may have worked up a sweat just reading it, but it is amazing how many calories can be burned in the very same room in which so many are consumed.

Plyometrics combine strength and speed. Try this one: While resting comfortably in push-up position, bring one knee toward your chest. Then begin switching from knee to knee as fast as your heart will allow. Or, run in place as fast as you can for five seconds, then drop down and to one push-up. Sweat. Repeat for 2 minutes.

Or, if leg strength is your claim to fame, start in a squat position and leap way up in the air, hands above the head and land back down, gently, in a squat before sailing into the air for another few minutes. Go ahead, try this one out. See how walking treats you the next day.

Source: Vailtrail.com

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