Kitchen Workout

Running short of time due to work commitments or don’t want to splurge a huge chunk of money in the gym, there may be a lot of reasons to keep exercise at bay.  But now you realize the need of workout for boosting confidence, for looking better or just to keep yourself fit.

Have you ever thought of exercising in your den lady, kitchen?

If you are a college going girl, working woman or a mother of two, you spend quite a time in the kitchen but never realized you can work out in the kitchen simmering Rajma or while waiting for three whistles for rice to cook.

Moving out to a different city after spending 24 magical years at home, I felt it’s more difficult to hit the gym when you are a working woman, a foodie, and a fitness freak too! And then one day I started doing squats while boiling milk.

This started my journey of working out in the kitchen and there is no stopping me now as I can cook for satiating my soul (yes, I live to eat not the other way round) and for maintaining body for living my coming half-century in a fit and healthy way.

Any form of physical exercise is necessary not just to reduce belly size but also for keeping a toned body, bringing back confidence, shine on the face, increasing stamina etc.

Let’s see some of the daily workout regimes that I follow while cooking

1. Warm up

Before starting any physical activity you need to do warm up to bring your body’s temperature up slowly and be safe from any type of injury during the workout.

The warm-up can be finished in 4-7 minutes starting from head to toe.

Repeat 5 times each:

Move your head up and down, left to right and tilt sideways.

Move your shoulder in a circular motion clockwise and anticlockwise.

Move shoulders up and down.

Make a tight fist and open it slowly.

Place fingers on the shoulder and move your hand in a circular motion clockwise and anticlockwise.

Move your belly left to right and move in circular motion too (clockwise and anticlockwise)

Keep your legs apart, keep one knee straight and bend another knee sideways and repeat this for another leg too

Lift your one toe off the ground and make a circular motion and do it for another leg also.

2. Squats

One of my favorite exercises which strengthen lower body (for getting perky butts too, yeah) can be easily done with the help of countertop.

Keep your legs little apart, toes touching the counter bottom, back straight and now bend your knees in a sitting position. You can take the support of counter top in initial days by grabbing the top by your palms. Squats can be done in the sets of 20 in the starting and increase by 5 every day.

3. Push-ups

So these are counter push-ups basically which you do it in a standing position. Keep your hands on the counter and walk away a few inches from the counter. Move your body towards the counter by keeping your back straight, in a push-up position. Hold yourself up there to the count of 5 and come back to the original position slowly. Don’t lift your toes off the ground while moving towards the counter. Do it in the set of 10 initially. To make it little harder afterward, increase the distance between you and the counter.

4. Planks

Oh yes! If you wipe kitchen floor by yourself instead of leaving it to be done by the maid or even if you don’t do wiping (Queen Rihanna) you can still do planks while waiting for the tea to be boiled properly. Place a soft cloth or yoga mattress on the floor. Get in push up position; bend your elbows on the floor by resting your body weight on your forearms. Hold it there for about a minute. So, afterward when it becomes a boring job try to do planks by lifting your leg up one by one.

5. Biceps curls

Hold water bottles of the same size in your hands (wait, not for drinking). Lift your hands sideways making a 90-degree angle with your body. Repeat this 20 times. You can add many exercises like keeping your elbow intact beside the body and then lifting the hand up and down without moving your elbows. Water bottles do the same work as dumbbells. (Now, you can have few sips of water)

6. Standing kicks

Stand straight, place your hands on the hips and lift right leg just behind you by putting weight on left leg. Do the sidekicks as well by lifting your right leg on the right side by putting weight on left leg. Repeat both the exercise for the left leg too.

You will find difficulty in doing this and cooking simultaneously but once it comes in routine, you will be a pro in doing both the tasks successfully.

So, how was Rajma? 🙂

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