6 Easy Exercises for When You’re Too Tired to Exercise
We all know that exercise is important, but sometimes we just don’t feel like doing it. Here are easy yet beneficial exercises to do even when you’re tired.
Exercise can be exciting and rewarding—for some of us. For the rest of us, it can sometimes feel too much like work. I fluctuate between the two, especially after a long day at work, and often say that when the garage door goes down, so does my motivation to exercise.
We all know how important exercise is for our physical and mental well-being, yet more than two-thirds of Americans aren’t getting enough, according to the 2020 National Health Interview Survey.
About half of American adults have at least one preventable chronic disease. Regular exercise can favorably affect seven of the 10 most common chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.
Yet what can we do to break the cycle of being too tired and unmotivated to exercise?
Over the years, I’ve found that starting my rehab patients on simple, easy-to-perform exercises can be a practical first step. After all, Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion—unless another force acts upon it. By taking small steps, we can create momentum.
This approach can work for anyone and may provide just the push needed to get started.
6 Easy Exercises for When You’re Tired
The following exercises were designed to reduce perceived effort by completing movements at chair height with high repetition and low resistance. These exercises can still be challenging, especially when muscles are fatigued after repetition.
1. Seated Overhead Reach
This is a great starting exercise. It’s easy to perform on a couch, chair, or recliner, and it’s like two exercises in one. Reaching straight up against gravity is ideal, and the high repetition counts add an aerobic component.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Begin seated at the front edge of a chair. Keep your back straight, your head looking forward, and your hands on your knees. If preferred, you can sit all the way back in the chair.
Step 2: Simultaneously reach both arms straight overhead, reaching as high as you can. Then, immediately lower your arms back to your knees. It should take about 1 second to complete 1 repetition.
Step 3: Try to perform 3 sets of 30 repetitions. If you feel a little short of breath, rest as needed.
Be sure to maintain a consistent pace of 1 second per repetition throughout the exercise and avoid rushing movements.
2. Seated Toe Touches
A politician once famously said, “When they go low, we go high.” In the first exercise, you went high, so now let’s go low. Seated toe touches engage the hip joints and muscles in the middle and lower back, providing a balance of flexibility and strength.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Sit on the edge of a chair. Like the overhead reach, this exercise can also be performed sitting all the way back.
Step 2: Slide your hands down the front of your legs until you reach your toes. If you can’t reach your toes, reaching for your ankles is OK.
Step 3: Slide your hands back up your legs and resume a seated position. Take about 1 second to move both ways without accelerating the pace or getting sloppy.
Step 4: Try to perform 3 sets of 30 repetitions, allowing time to rest between sets if needed.
3. Seated/Standing Knee Lifts
This exercise builds on the hip flexion you practiced in the last exercise but significantly increases the amount of muscular exertion for the hip flexor muscles.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Sit upright in a chair, preferably at the front edge, with both feet on the floor and your hands at your sides or holding onto the chair.
Step 2: Lift one knee straight up as far as possible, then lower it back down. Take approximately 1 full second to complete the up-and-down movement.
Step 3: This counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 30 repetitions per leg.
Performing this exercise on one side and then the other is easier for many people, but feel free to alternate between legs. For best results, be sure to focus on using good form.
4. Chair Situps
For this exercise to be effective, it is recommended that you sit at the front of your chair, as this position allows for better engagement of your core abdominal muscles.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Sit near the front of your chair. Your shoulders should be back against the chair’s backrest. Cross your arms high over your chest.
Step 2: While keeping your back straight and your arms crossed, sit up slowly into an upright position. You can slide your feet forward if you need to counterbalance your trunk.
Step 3: Slowly lower backward toward the backrest while keeping your back straight. Take about 1 second to move up and another second to move back down.
Step 4: This counts as 1 repetition. Try to complete 3 sets of 30 repetitions, modifying the sets and counts as needed.
As with the other exercises, it is important to pay attention to the timing and quality of your movements. This exercise can be deceptively challenging, so don’t be discouraged if you find it difficult to complete 30 repetitions initially.
5. Seated Crunches
After doing chair situps, it’s a great idea to move on to seated crunches, which use the same starting position and continue to work the core abdominal muscles.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Sit near the front of your chair with your shoulders against the chair’s backrest. You can hold on to the bottom of your chair.
Step 2: Draw your knees up toward your chin and simultaneously bring your shoulders slightly forward. Extend your feet back out and your shoulders back against the chair. Take 1 second to move in and another to move back out.
Step 4: This counts as 1 repetition. Try to perform 3 sets of 20 repetitions while maintaining a consistent pace and form.
6. Seated Jacks
Seated jacks can be a useful exercise. I perform this same motion to scare birds off my porch, but it also provides a great upper and lower body workout.
Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Step 1: Begin by sitting. Sitting closer to the front of your chair will intensify the exercise while sitting back will make it easier. Place your feet squarely on the floor with your hands near the top of your chest.
Step 2: Simultaneously reach your arms up and out while extending your legs apart and straightening your knees.
Step 3: Bring your arms and legs back into the starting position. This exercise is more aggressive than the others. Be sure to maintain a steady pace while moving both quickly and accurately.
You can suspend your feet off the floor during the extended position to increase intensity.
These movements are designed to offer some physical activity when you’re not in the mood for intense exercise. Many people find that they want to do more; sometimes, the slightest spark can ignite the largest fires.
*If you have health or mobility issues that may present problems, be sure to consult your physician before commencing exercise activity.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Kevin Shelley is a licensed occupational therapist with over 30 years of experience in major health care settings. He is a health columnist for The Epoch Times.
Copy
