Quick Exercises!

 Hi everyone!  I figured this week I could do a blog post on exercise.  As important as it is, there are a lot of reasons we don't do it/can't do it.  One reason is "I don't feel comfortable/live in an area where the gym's at".  Yes, that was my problem.  I've always lived in the country and I wouldn't feel comfortable in a gym for multiple reasons.  Another reason is "I don't have time!"  This is also true.  In our lives, we are so busy and never seem to find the time for the important things.  While these are all true YouTube is chock full of short videos that are great for exercising!  You can look up what you want specifically on there.  Or, if you'd rather not do that, you can just follow simple exercises like I do when traveling!  And remember always do quality over quantity.

Pushups:  Set a timer for 30 seconds and do wider pushups with elbows tucked in until the timer is done.  Then rest for 10 seconds.  Next, do pushups with your hands shoulder-width apart, elbows tucked in, for 30 seconds again.  Then rest for 10 seconds.  Then, do triangle-shaped pushups with elbows again tucked in for 30 seconds.  Then rest for 10 seconds.  If you can, do that all again one more time...By this time I've done around 60-80 pushups and I'm getting super tired.  But, I like to go until fail, then do a few more, because that's how you build muscle, so I'll drop to my knees and continue.  That makes it a bit easier, but if you roll into your arms more than your legs you are still pushing a pretty good amount of weight.  Then, just keep doing this until fail and you'll gain muscle.  

Another arm exercise I do is I'll do weights (we only have a 9lb dumbbell).  To start off, to warm up your triceps, do a backward pushup (picture below) for 30 seconds, then on your knees, put the weight over your head, and go up and down for 50 seconds.  Then rest for 10 seconds.  This is a great way to work out your triceps and tone them.  Then, take weights or even cans of beans would work 😁, and do bicep curls (i just use the dumbbell for 30 seconds on each side), for 50-60 seconds, and then rest.  Next, lay down on the floor and with your hands at your sides, crunch together your shoulder blades like a sponge was in there and you were trying to squeeze the water out.  This is a good back and upper body strength exercise.  I noticed a huge difference after doing these exercises for just a few times! 

Leg exercises are pretty self-explanatory.  Just do deep knee bends and wall sits until fail.  But, make sure you have good form or you could injure yourself. 
 

Exercise is such an important part of not only our mental health but our physical health. Looking at this from a Christian's point of view (as we should all things), God created our body in His image.  While we will never look like He does, we need to take care of our bodies to honor Him.  For example, if we have a rotten tooth and just leave it, it will eventually damage the rest of our body.  We could get an infection in our bloodstream which could lead to so many other issues, especially later in life.  Therefore, we are not taking care of the temple of God (https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-16.htm   ---I gave the web address, because if you look at it, you can see all the cross references it gives).  If we take the rotten tooth out, we will save our bodies from other issues later.  Which is what we should do all the time!  

In conclusion, we should exercise to take care of our bodies and honor the Lord.  Thank the Lord for making our bodies the way He did!  Even if you can't devote time to doing videos or planned exercises, you can do deep knee bends, push-ups, jumping jacks, and more!  Even if the only time you can do it, is right when you wake up, it can still help you have an amazing day!  And remember, always do a cool-down stretch when you're done to help your muscles recover faster, so you'll have a better day the next day!

Have a fantastic weekend!  ~Charity Robertson