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Physiotherapist Sammy Margo exclusively shares her expertise with the Daily Express on how to exercise effectively inside your home. Don’t worry about specialised equipment, all you need is your body and household items.
Visceral fat is stored in the abdominal cavity, clarified WebMD; too much of it can contribute to detrimental health effects.
Examples include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and Alzheimer’s.
In order to get rid of visceral fat, the most effective method is to “keep moving”, thus exercise is the key to lose the harmful belly fat.
One of the most effective ways to start a home workout is to “warm up” to “increase blood flow”.
This helps to “fire up muscles and tendons” and “minimises the risk of injury”.
“A warm-up should focus on aerobic activity,” reveals Margo. “Save stretches for your after work-out cool down.”
For people who have sore joints, such as those with arthritis, pick a combination of these four options for your five-minute warm up:
- Walk
- Swing
- Circle
- Skip
Walk
“Find the longest corridor in your house, or flat, and walk back and forth at a brisk pace,” suggests Margo.
Swing
Another option is to “swing”. “Standing straight, holding a wall for support,” Margo begins.
“Swing your left leg back and forth gently,” she instructs. “Repeat for 10 swings. Swap legs and repeat.
“With each swing, try to increase the range of movement at the joint.”
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Circle
“Keeping arms straight, raise them forward and rotate them all the way behind, in a big circular movement,” Margo describes.
“Repeat five arm circles forward, and five arm circles back.”
Skip
This involves outing out “the motions” of skipping with a rope, meaning you don’t need to buy one.
“If you have problems with aches and arthritic pain, use the Deep Heat Muscle Massage Roll-on Lotion,” suggest Margo.
For people who are more able bodied, and want to add in more motion into their warm up, you can add in “jumping jacks” or “squats”.
The workout
“The key here is to work to the point where you’re getting out of breath, but can still, just, speak,” reveals Margo.
“At first you may only be able to do a few minutes at a time, but if you make exercise a daily habit, you’ll soon build up your strength and fitness.”
In regards to arthritis sufferers, Margo compares stiff joints to “rusty hinges”.
“If you try to do too much too quickly, you could damage the ‘hinge’,” she explains.
“But by working them a little at a time you will be able to loosen off the ‘rust’.”
Upper must
“Stand at least a foot from a wall and place your hands on a wall, at shoulder height,” Margo says.
“Keeping your heels on the ground and your back straight, lean in towards the wall and then press back with your arms.”
For strengthening activities, one might presume you need to invest in dumbbells, but “a couple of cans of baked beans” can work just as well.
“With a can of beans or bottle of water in each hand,” Margo explains, you can perform bicep curls – and don’t forget to squeeze your muscles when your hand reaches your shoulder height.
Lunges
Last (but not least), Margo recommends the “lunge”. “Standing tall, gaze forward, back straight, take your left leg forward, bending the knee.
“Drop the right knee to the ground as you do so. Then rotate your torso to the right and turn your head to look over your right shoulder.
“Hold for two to three seconds, then release, and come back up to standing. Aim for four to five lunge rotations on each side.”
If you’d like more exercises recommended by Margo, please comment below saying so – Margo has many to share with Daily Express readers.
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