Flexibility exercises to do during television commercials
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EmailMake a healthy decision during your television time by doing some flexibility exercises.
The average American watches three or more hours of television per day. Watching TV is considered a sedentary activity and too much can lead to excess weight gain and over the long term even obesity. Most people have a few guilty pleasure television shows that they watch during the week but keeping screen time to less than two hours a day is optimal for your health. However, there are ways to help turn television time into an opportunity for some physical activity.
The average TV commercial break is two to three minutes long, so use those few minutes to get in some flexibility exercises. There are many different activities to choose from, here are a few exercises to get you started on the right track.
Flexibility Exercises:
- Back of the leg: Sit down or stand up and while keeping your legs straight reach for your toes.
- Back: While sitting-up-straight in a chair, slowly twist your waist (not your hips) to the right, hold for 10-30 seconds and then twist to the left.
- Upper body: Stand an arm’s length away from the wall, facing the wall, lean your body forward until your palms are flat on the wall. While keeping your hands flat on the wall and your back straight, slowly move your hands up the wall as far as you can. Hold for 10-30 seconds and walk your hands back down.
- For more exercises visit Go4LIfe.
For each exercise, make sure to stretch slowly into each position and hold for 10-30 seconds. Repeat three to five times. Do not forget to relax, breath and don’t stretch so hard that you feel pain.
Not only will these exercises give you a better range of motion to help with everyday activities, but they will help increase your overall physical well-being. For more flexibility exercises or physical activity ideas, you can visit Michigan State University Extension or the National Institute on Aging.
