Four Ways to Make the World Your Gym.

(BlackFitness101.com) It’s getting late in the afternoon and your daily commute is jammed by deadlines, grumpy bosses and traffic. You are navigating toward the gym with much excitement, but all things considered, you likely won’t keep your schedule at the present pace of affairs. Not to worry! You can always make the world – whatever space you are in – your gym! Your personal space can become your best ally in your desire to get and keep fit. Follow these four principles to make the world your gym.

Do Your Core on the Floor

Simply getting on the floor and doing core exercises is the first way to make the world your gym. These exercises can be as simple as performing planks or sit ups. The key is that you are exercising in free motion – just the space on your floor – as opposed to fixed motion while on machines in a gym. Core on the floor can be expanded by incorporating yoga into your regimen or just simply doing breathing exercises. Try to do a minimum of three floor exercise hitting your upper and lower abs, as well as your obliques.

Find an Activity that Increases Your Heart Rate

Finding an activity that increases your heart rate is the second way to make the world your gym. Heart rate is important for the success of a workout regimen. Heart rate is important because it is the body’s way of demanding more from its muscular and cardio units. The greater the demand, the greater the result. Find an activity – cycling, walking, and jogging – that elevates your heart rate and keeps it up for at least twenty minutes. Lower-intensity activities such as gardening or simply walking the dog can also help, but remember that, in order for the activity to keep your heart rate up adequately, it must be at least semi-demanding. So, if you walk the dog, keep the pace up as much as possible.

Use Your Body as a Dumbbell

The third way to make the world your gym is to use your body as a dumbbell. The fact is your body is the greatest instrument of resistance at your disposal. Mastering your own body weight can offer limitless opportunities for increasing body strength and flexibility. The three best natural body exercises are pushups, planks and squats. Planks especially are good because you are literally suspending your body weight off the ground while building core strength.

Incorporate Stretching Each Day

The fourth way to make the world your gym is to incorporate some form of flexibility training into your daily routine. Stretching is important to achieving a sense of fitness for the body. The two most impacted areas for stretching are the shoulders and the back of the legs (hamstrings). Stress collects in these two spaces the most.

The two best exercises for relieving stress in the shoulders and hamstrings are arm circles and toe touches. Perform arm circles by standing straight and moving your extended arms in circular motion for 10 seconds and then reversing. Upon the end of the first set, you should begin to feel a burning sensation in the shoulders. For the hamstrings, keep your legs straight as you bend over and touch your toes. Hold that position for ten to thirty seconds.

Use your personal space to your advantage!

Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes

This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.

In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitefitnesscoaching.com.