If you find yourself always in the kitchen, cooking, and cleaning and have no time to hit the gym, don't worry, turn your kitchen into your workout place.Cooking is an unavoidable job unless you are okay spending on outside foods. Cooking takes up most of the hours of our day and can be so tiring that taking time out for a workout never happens, not even in dreams. Well, anything is possible if you think so. Hence, so what you don't get time out of your kitchen, you can add some kitchen workout to your cooking routine. You may ask, is that necessary?
Yes, don't be in a notion that you are working all day in the kitchen; hence, you don't need to workout especially to keep your joints strong and healthy. In fact, your everyday household chores put a lot of stress on your joints. To take that off, you need to do some exercises focused on each joint.
But, how can one exercise while cooking? Well, there are a lot of empty slots while cooking that you never notice, like, waiting for the oil to heat up or water to boil, allowing a baked dish to cool down or a marinate or batter to set. In between all these, instead of waiting to do nothing, fill up the blank space with something useful. Below are the few simple stationary exercises you can do easily while cooking.
1. Stove Squats While your meal bakes in the oven or your food cooks on the stove, you can work on your leg joints. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Combine your fingers behind your head, and keep your elbows wide and chest high. Slowly, lower down into the squat position, bending your knees to a 90-degree angle as if you are sitting in an invisible chair. Rise back up and repeat.
2. Kitchen Lunges Lunges can give your quads and glutes a good stretch even without weights. Hence, while waiting for the veggies or meat to cook, stand facing the counter or stove. Keep your upper body straight, shoulders back and relaxed, and tighten your core. Step forward with one leg, lowering hips until both knees are bent at an approximately 90-degree angle, with most of your weight on the heel of another leg. When both knees are close to forming a 90-degree angle, reverse the movement and return to standing. Perform 15 reps on one leg before switching sides.
3. Counter Pushups Make use of your kitchen counter for your arm workouts. Position your hands firmly on the edge of the counter, around shoulder-width apart. Keep your feet away from the counter, so your body forms a straight line from heel to head. Lift your heels up, tighten your core, and bend your elbows. Slowly lower your chest toward the counter. When your chest almost touches, reverse the movement and press yourself back to start.
4. Forearm Plate Lifts Your arms are used continuously while cooking. Give them a good stretch by working on the forearm muscles. Hold a small plate in one hand and slowly raise your arm out to the side so that it's aligned with your shoulder. Now, bend at the elbow, making an L shape. While holding the plate, move your wrist up and down. Repeat and switch hands. If you feel a burning sensation in your forearms after a few reps, you're doing it right.
5. Cleanup Calf Lifts Simply stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and flat on the ground. Slowly raise your heels to your tiptoes and hold for a few seconds, then lower back down. If you are unsteady on your feet at first, take the support of the counter to help balance yourself. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Conclusion As you can see, these are simple kitchen exercises that you can do anytime without much effort. Following the above will help you make your joints healthy and keep them in good shape as well.
You can readhere for more joint health knowledge.