Stay Active: 6 Exercises To Be Fit, Fabulous This Summer

Summer is a time of the year when more people are motivated to get active. The sun is out, the weather is inviting, and people are feel like staying active. Yet most people don’t know how much exercise they should be getting or which ones are going to help them look and feel their best.

The National Institutes of Health reports that children and youth should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day, while adults should aim to get 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous intensity exercise. For most people, if they can remember to get 30 minutes of exercise five days per week, they will be well ahead of the game.

But if you have 5 minutes a few times a day, you definitely need to try Activ5. This palm size product is a first-of-its-kind, wireless-enabled, isometric-based strength training device that coaches users through, 5-minute, low-impact, and full-body workouts.

Isometric exercise is a type of low-impact strength training where the angle of the joints and muscle length do not change during contraction – for example a plank. Scientific research has proven that isometric exercise is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to build strength, accelerate fat burning and tone the body.

Five minutes of isometric exercise can be equivalent to 25 minutes of gym-machine exercises.

However, if you are a gym freak or you have more time to dedicate to you workout routine, there are many exercises one can engage in this summer to get fit and fabulous. Here are six tried and true ones that Coach Sarah Walls, personal trainer and owner of SAPT Strength & Performance Training, Inc., recommends to the athletes she works with:

1. The Turkish Getup: Using a kettlebell, this exercise will help stabilize your shoulder muscles and develop your core muscles.
2. The Pushup: This handy standard works your core muscles and offers the strength and conditioning your body needs to become more defined.
3. The Squat: Often referred to as the “king of all exercises” this is an exercise that can be done anywhere, and offers increased fitness for your whole body.
4. Metabolic Circuits: This type of exercise will help you burn a lot of fat, but it’s also going to provide benefits to the heart. A metabolic circuit is going to include various exercises done one after another, so you are working various muscle groups.
5. The Inverted Row: This is a great exercise for working the muscles that you would pull with, including your biceps, back, and stabilizer muscles. This helps even out the work you are doing when you do pushups, which will provide more stabilization.
6. Turtle Rolls: Everyone wants a good ab burn, but traditional exercises can cause pain and big problems for the spine. Try this fun variation with a partner.