Unconventional and creative ways that you never thought could help you in shape
They tell us that keeping in shape is all about hard work, dedication, and sticking to a strict diet. This is only somewhat true, as indeed this will give you a fit and healthy body if you are persistent enough, though that is not the only way of doing it. A bit unconventional, but there are things you can do to stay in great shape that does not fit into the previous list of activities.
Things like eating more, clubbing, and sleeping don’t come to mind when thinking about fitness, yet they can indeed help us get and maintain a lean body if applied correctly. See what else you can do below, and we’re sure you haven’t thought of at least one of those on the list.
A Corset-Like Figure
A very famous silhouette, showing up every few centuries but having its peak in the female corset of the Victorian era, reminds us mostly of an hourglass figure. Or a pigeon breast and a wasp waist, if you will. This idealized body is of course unobtainable naturally, and can only be achieved by wearing tight-fitting clothing or via some surgery. But considering how a narrowed waist helps stabilize the spine, there is a certain benefit here.
Heavy weightlifters carry a similar type of clothing – a weight belt, that helps keep the back straight during deadlifts and squats. Wearing similar narrow-waisted clothing will not only give you proper posture but will also push your stomach in a bit thus restricting your appetite. Just make sure to keep the chest unbound, as restricted breathing is not a good thing.
Sleep Your Way to a Fit Body
While we sleep, a lot is happening to our bodies, even though we are presumably only resting and lying down. Sleep is needed for our muscles to recover after heavy exercise or labor, and for our mind to rest from all the thinking we’ve been doing.
Though depending on how old you are and what you do, you will need different amounts of sleep to become fully rested. You can try out this sleep calculator to see what fits you best. Getting too little sleep is detrimental to your health and should be avoided. As we sleep or rest, the muscle tissue that has been micro torn during physical activity regenerates to build bigger and stronger muscles. So exercising too much and having too little rest will not bring you any good body-wise.
Eat More!
Absurd as it may sound, there are scenarios where eating more is good for staying in shape. There are two cases for this, different but with some overlap. If you are underweight, as was the case with people for many centuries until the current age, then eating sufficiently is not only good for your organism to get all the nutrients and energy it needs, but to build up a pleasant-looking outside too. Proteins in food help build muscles and organs and are therefore essential in any diet. It would be very difficult to completely avoid proteins in a normal diet because finding protein-rich food is rather hard. But turning to tuna, chicken breasts, or lean beef – you can get plenty of protein in and your body will naturally start placing the proteins where they need to go, thereby keeping you nicely toned. And even vegans have alternative solutions for this, as some plants can have huge amounts of protein in them as well.
Setting a Clock Diet
Diets that restrict what we eat are the most common thing we turn to when we have to lose some weight. Paleo, low-carb, vegan, and so forth. But a clock diet is different, in that it is made so that you can eat whatever you want but are restricted to when you can eat it. Not perfect in itself, it does have some very compelling arguments for it.
Our digestive system has evolved to follow a certain rhythm of life, day and night, and so forth. And although our eating habits have considerably changed, some parts of the digestive system are still the same. It takes a lot of time to digest some foodstuff, mainly meat, so timing your meals to have enough space between them is very beneficial for the body. Restricting yourself to not eat anything from, say, 7 PM to 6 AM gives you plenty of time to fully digest everything in your stomach and use it as it needs to be.
Make House Chores An Exercise
Chores await us every day in various amounts and don’t magically disappear just because we ignore them. And even though most of us would rather spend the time hanging out with friends or going for a walk – some things just need to be done sooner than later. But why not make it useful in more ways than one?
Studies show that doing household chores could improve your health, equaling in some cases to the same benefit as regular exercise. Not only that – they can also be an exercise on their own, giving you a workout when you would otherwise be bored. Squatting while taking out the dishes, planking while vacuuming, running for groceries… the number of possibilities is endless.
Dance Until You Drop
Clubbing is mostly associated with having fun and meeting new people, not staying in shape, but did you know that dancing burns a lot of calories? And dancing is what going to clubs is all about. Certain gigs will get you pumped up for jumping more than others, but even slow-paced music allows for long and graceful dancing that makes you break a sweat.
Of course, many people will also be drinking alcohol, which is very caloric, and will eat some fast food afterward, which is even more caloric! But limiting for yourself these two things can work wonders in terms of staying fit while also having fun partying.
These six unconventional and creative ways of keeping you in shape are what everyone needs when they normally don’t have the time to work out or the willpower to go on a diet. They are easy to do and only require a bit of organizing. So good luck with them and you’ll see results in no time.
posted Monday June 7th
by Colorado Runner