LCP Boot Camp Challenge Day 16

Today's LCP Boot Camp Challenge is to get physical. Whether your choice is to exercise indoors or outdoors, get physical within your life today for at least 30 minutes. You can break down your exercises into smaller increments of time if your needs require, but the goal is to get moving more today than the day before.

Here are a few questions to consider too while planning your exercise goals for the day....

• What did you do yesterday to get active? 
  
• What is your personal exercise program or have you started one yet?
  
• What can you do inside your home to enable you to become more active?
  
• Have you explored exercise programs like yoga or tai-chi? 
  
• Has your doctor recommended a low-impact exercise program?
  
• Do you have a "work-out buddy"? sometimes it's easier to get active when we have company

We all have our own exercise questions, needs and abilities...explore yours....what will it take to get you more active in your life? What little steps can you take for you and will you take them?

If you've been breaking out of your old routine and making a new one, good for you! keep challenging yourself and making new goals to achieve. Work within your abilities but challenge your limitations when you can. 

​Take your time, you're not auditioning for a work out video...the goal is to keep your body moving and your joints limber with gentle movement. These exercises can be done throughout your day, in between household chores, or even as a morning work-out routine to start your day. You can even do these exercises while at work when you need to stretch your body a bit. 

• while standing or sitting turn your head to left hold for a count of 3 and slowly move back to centre....turn to the right and hold for a count of 3 and slowly move back to centre....repeat x5...turning your head only as far as you are able and comfortable
• sit comfortably in a chair and roll your shoulders in circles...moving forward and backward...x10 in each direction...move within your abilities and comfort level please
• hold your arms out at your sides slowly moving in circles...widening the circles as you go...again please move slowly and within your abilities x10 in each direction
• when laying on the couch or in the bed do leg lifts...raising leg as high as you comfortably can...hold to count of 5 then lowering...repeat x10...switch legs and repeat
• roll over onto your side and do scissor lifts...raising leg as high as you comfortably can...hold to a count of 5 then lowering....repeat x10....you can also do this exercise without holding to count of 5 if your needs require..bring your leg slowly back down...after the count of 10...roll over onto your other side and repeat
• find some stairs and using only the bottom step...step up and down x15....hold on to the railing if you need balance...take your time and remember your breathing
• grab two soup cans from the cupboard (or two other cans of same size you can hold comfortably) and complete arm curls x15
• while still holding the cans complete 15 arm stretches
• even household chores can be exercise....give thought to how your body moves while you are completing the dreaded chores...be mindful of your posture, your breathing, and your muscle movement

​If the word exercise makes you cringe, call it something else then, but whatever you do...get your body moving...without movement we become like the Tin Man from Oz. Move within your abilities while gently pushing your limitations. Challenge your thoughts on what you can and cannot do and move within it.