Whether it rains or not, foodies will always find reasons to keep their taste buds happy. Monsoon happens to be the time of the year when you want to indulge in countless numbers of tea, hot pakodas and samosas. But if weight loss is on your mind, you need to stay away from unhealthy snacks this rainy season. Apart from watching your diet, you also need to regularly exercise. A lot of us have blamed the rains for affecting our workout routine. But with indoor workouts, you will have no excuse to skip weight loss exercises this monsoon.
To help you with a weight loss plan for monsoon, Health Shots reached out to Breanna Smith, a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach and group fitness instructor.
Weight loss exercises during monsoon
Smith says that it is good to combine cardio and strength training. Cardio training is important to keep the cardiovascular system strong. Strength training, on the other hand, offers numerous benefits including bone health improvement, enhanced metabolism, improved body composition, injury prevention, and increased muscle strength. But during the monsoon season, outdoor activities might be limited. So, if you can’t make it to the gym, you can do a full body workout in your living room. Here are some options:
1. Body weight or weighted squats
• Start with feet hip to shoulder weight apart.
• Set your shoulders down and back away from your ears.
• Take a deep breath in and brace your core then sit back as if you are sitting in a chair.
• Once your legs reach a 90-degree angle or the depth to which the motion stops, return back to your set position and repeat.
The expert suggests you can add weight for increased resistance.
2. Push ups
• To do push ups, start with your shoulders stacked on top of your wrists, feet shoulder width apart and hips tucked with a tight core.
• Slowly lower down until your elbows are 90 degrees.
• Push through the floor and back to set position and repeat.
3. Glute bridges
• Lying on your back, stack your knees and brace your core to do glute bridges.
• Press through your feet as you lift your hips towards the ceiling.
• Squeeze your glutes at the top then slowly lower back down to set position and repeat.
4. Alternating high plank row
• Begin in plank position, shoulders set down and back away from the ears and overtop your wrists, tuck your hips and brace your core. As for your feet, they should be hip to shoulder width apart.
• One arm at a time, draw your elbow up toward the ceiling bringing your wrist beside your hip as if you’re placing your hand to the top of your pocket.
• Slowly lower down then repeat on the opposite side.
Apart from weight loss, these workouts can improve cardiovascular health, increase endurance, boost energy levels, enhance mood and mental well-being, and promote overall fitness and body toning. Smith says that these exercises will also improve functional fitness, making daily tasks such as lifting objects, carrying groceries, chasing around kids, or even climbing stairs. By increasing your muscle mass, you will in turn have an increased metabolism so that even when you are stuck indoors during the monsoon, you are burning more calories at rest. It makes weight management and fat loss more achievable, she shares.
But don’t forget to take a holistic approach to weight management. It includes proper nutrition and portion control, in combination with regular exercise. To avoid weight gain, it’s important to steer clear of unhealthy eating habits like excessive caloric intake, and maintain a balanced diet. One of the biggest things to avoid during monsoon season is a sedentary lifestyle. While the couch or your bed might seem more comfortable than ever, lack of physical activity or a sedentary lifestyle can contribute to weight gain. Just find a way to move around.
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