FITNESS CULTURE: CHAPTER 6a
FREESTYLE FITNESS - ANYWHERE AND FREE!
Many types of exercise that do not require the use of equipment can help in achieving and maintaining fitness. Walking and jogging have already been described and discussed in Chapters 4 and 5 respectively. Skipping (with or without rope), spot running, and spot jogging with high knees can be included in your fitness routines as well. There are several advantages of doing freestyle exercises over those that need physical equipment. First of all, it is easy to maintain regularity in doing freestyle exercises because you do not need anything, so even if you are at places other than your home, you can still do these exercises. Secondly, you need not spend money for buying any equipment (many of them are very expensive!). Thirdly, you need not go to gyms for doing these exercises – you can do them anywhere, even indoors! (Swimming and cycling are not discussed here, although they are very good freestyle exercises).
Skipping (with or without rope)
Skipping is an excellent exercise that can be done for fitness. Actual skipping is done with a rope, but if you cannot skip with a rope it is just as fine. An imaginary rope would also be effective. Stand straight with your feet just a few inches (4 to 6 inches) away from each other, and your arms hanging straight down touching your body on each side, as if standing in attention. Then lift your lower arms outwards, and clinch the wrists as though you are holding the two ends of a rope. However, try to keep your upper arms (from shoulder to elbow) touching the body on the right and left side of the trunk – only your lower arm (from elbow to the palms) should be stretched outwards. Now leap a few inches from the ground and swing both your lower arms in a rotational movement simultaneously (in a clockwise direction) as though you are using a rope and skipping. Try to keep your body straight, and not to bend your knees when you jump off the floor. In the beginning you may do skipping for about one minute only, and then gradually increase the duration as your stamina and capacity increase.
The benefits are the same as for jogging. Never over-exert yourself by doing too much skipping at one time. Remember, moderate but regular workouts are the key to long-term fitness. Five minutes of skipping in a day is good enough if you are doing other workouts as well. For losing weight, you can do two or three rounds of five minutes each, with a break of one minute in between each round. If your knees show signs of soreness (that is, if you feel pain in the knee joints), give skipping a break for a few days while continuing with your other fitness workouts.
Spot running
Running on the spot is another freestyle workout that hardly requires any space, and can be done without having to worry about the outside weather conditions. This is a slow running workout on the spot, but is different from jogging. The effective way of running on the spot is to have one foot touch your buttock in alternation when you run. In other words, when you bend one knee while running, the back of the raised foot should touch your buttock.
When you start this workout newly, only run this way for a minute (or lesser if you feel breathless or over-exerted). Observe the caution that you should never over-exert yourself. Gradually increase the duration to three minutes. Regularity is more important than doing it for a longer duration only for a few days, only to give up later on. That is why only three minutes is recommended so that you can maintain regularity. This workout gives all the benefits of jogging, and is a wonderful fitness workout which can be done even inside your home. For fat reduction, do a few rounds of spot running – each round consisting of three minutes with a break of one or two minutes between each round.
Spot jogging with high knees
Jogging on the spot with one knee being brought forward in alternation is a cardio training workout. This workout is to be done only after achieving a minimum level of fitness by virtue of having done some other form of fitness exercise earlier.
Stand straight with your hands bent from the elbow, the lower arms pointing forward, and the palms of the hands open but facing downward. Bring the left leg forward and upward by bending at the knee to a level that makes the thigh perpendicular to the body. Now start running slowly on the spot with the left knee coming forward and upward so as to touch the left palm of your hand, and then the right knee coming forward to touch the right palm. Do not lower your hands downward, they should be perpendicular to your body, Do not bend your trunk forward. Carry on doing this type of high-knee jogging for one minute initially and gradually increase the duration to two or three minutes. For burning your fat you may have to do a few rounds of three minutes each with a short break of one or two minutes in between.
In the initial phase, if you feel too tired or breathless by bringing the knee to a level perpendicular to your trunk, you may raise the knee to a slightly lower level. Gradually you can improvise and bring the thigh lifting movement to the perpendicular position. In addition to burning the body fats, this workout helps in making the heart, lungs and cardiovascular system strong and powerful.
Some more freestyle workouts are discussed in Chapter 6b. Wish you success in the Fitness Culture!
Article written by: Saikumar Iyer
Dated: 29th September 2012
