When Jim Citrin at “Yahoo! Finance” did a survey among the 20 CEOs regarding their daily life routines, he found some similarities among all of them. One of the things that almost every CEO had in his daily routine was regular workout sessions in the early morning.
ÔÇ£I make sure I workout at least three times a week ÔÇô usually the first when I wake up.ÔÇØ said Mark Zuckerberg in one of the Q&A sessions on Facebook. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 5 am daily to get to the gym several times a week. Elon Musk despite working for 100 hours in a week finds time to squeeze in cardio workout twice a week, reports Auto Bild TV.
Have you ever wondered why exercise is so important that even such top execs manage to fit in workout sessions in their busy schedule? You might say because it gives them the perfect shape and keeps them fit, right? But there are much more subtle benefits of workouts. LetÔÇÖs talk about them first.
Wendy Suzuki ÔÇô a neuroscientist ÔÇô talks about three major benefits of exercise in her TED talk. ÔÇ£A single workout session will have immediate effects on your brain. It will increase the levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. This is going to improve your mood and make you feel better immediately.ÔÇØ she says. Explaining further she says, ÔÇ£Workout session will produce brand new cells that increase the volume of hippocampus which results into improved long term memoryÔÇØ.
Exercise has direct effects on prefrontal cortex of our brains. Due to workouts, its volume also increases which immediately results in better focus, attention and decision making capability. These are immediate benefits which means you do a single workout session now and you will get these healthy benefits right after that.
Workouts make hippocampus and prefrontal cortex stronger and bigger which makes us almost immune to diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s disease.
Robin Sharma ÔÇô author of ÔÇ£The Leader Who Had No TitleÔÇØ ÔÇô says will power is like a muscle, the more you practice it, the stronger it becomes. Getting up and doing exercise to get your heart rate up requires will power. ┬áBringing in workout sessions in your daily routine has direct effects on your will power. Your will power grows and you become a stronger person.
Motivated enough to start your own workout regime?
Experts suggest that we workout at least 5 times a week with each session of 30 minutes. But due to busy schedules we are not able to hit the gym regularly. And going go the gym, especially during winters in Kashmir, is kind of an obstacle in our way to fit and healthy lifestyle.
In the view of that, we have compiled a list of simple exercises that you can do at your home without requiring any gym equipment.┬á Ready? LetÔÇÖs start and get your heart rate up.
- Jumping Jacks.
Jumping Jack is an aerobic cardio exercise. It is a good warm up exercise that gets you ready for next workouts. It improves flexibility, heart health, relieves stress, works out the whole body, improves stamina and stability, and improves the mood.
Jump your legs out as you bring your hands overhead, then jump back to the standing. Repeat for 20 times.
Check out the below video to learn how to do it better.
- Basic Squats.
 Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms stretched forward, and then lower your body until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Return to the start position and do the next rep.
Do such 12 reps.
Watch the below video to do it right.
- Simple Push ups
 After taking 30 seconds of rest, move on to doing simple push ups.
Lay prone on the ground with arms supporting your body. Keep your body straight while raising and lowering your body with your arms.
Do such 6 push ups.
- Side Lunges
Stand straight with your feet together. Move your right leg to the side, and then lower your body while keeping your left leg straight. Go back to the start position and switch to the other side.
Do such 12 side lunges.
Watch the below video to get the better idea of how to do it.
- Bird Dogs
 Keep your knees under your butt and your hands under your shoulders. Stretch your right leg and left arm at the same time. Keep it like this for 4 seconds and go back then repeat with other side.
Do such 15 Bird Dogs.
Watch the below video to do it right.
- Jumping Squats
Keep your body in a squat position, and then jump up by using your abdominal muscles for strength.
Do such 7 Jumping Squats.
Watch this video to do it right.
- Abdominal Crunches
 Lie on your back with your knees bent and your arms stretched forward. Then lift your upper body off the floor and the return slowly.
Do such 10 Abdominal Crunches.
Watch the video to see how to do it.
- Lunges
 Stand with your hands on your hips. Take a step forward with your right leg and lower your body until your thigh is parallel with the floor. Then return and switch to the other leg.
Repeat this 12 times.
Watch this video for better understanding.
- High Stepping
 Run in place while pulling your knees as high as possible. Do this for 20 seconds.
Watch this video to do it better.
- Plank
 Lie on the floor with your toes and forearms on the ground. Keep your body straight and hold this position.
  Hold this position for 30 seconds.
Do these exercises to start off your day at a lively and energetic note. YouÔÇÖll notice better attention and focus in you all day. In a week, take two days off.
Note: Take 30 second break between exercises. And if you have any health problem, please consult your doctor before going through this. Also note that it is okay if you canÔÇÖt go through all of these workouts on your first day. Do as many as you can but be consistent because consistency is the key. Good luck!