Did you set a fitness goal this New Year?
Enjoy the Mediterranean outdoors while getting fit on your dog walk.
Here are 14 Exercises you can do while walking the dog!
No time to exercise?
Try these 14 exercises you can do while you walk the dog!
It’s January. The time of year when many of us set our annual goal to get fit, exercise more, and eat less…
How’s it going?
If you are like me, I have good intentions to exercise every day…but life and daily schedules get in the way.
I have a dog, and rain or shine, sickness or health, the dog has to be walked at least 2x per day.
I love the dog walk. Getting out in the stunning Mediterranean outdoors is like meditation for me. I look forward to it.
Exercise however, while I feel great afterward, I have a hard time just doing it - even if I’ve scheduled it into my calendar.
I love an opportunity to multi-task.
So this January, I started trying to integrate exercising into my dog walk - and it’s working!
Here are 14 exercises that I’ve integrated into my dog walk.
Share your favourite dog walking exercises in the comments below!
14 Exercises you can do while you walk your dog - in 3 parts
1. Face Yoga: 10-minutes
I like to start with Face Yoga - see my recent Face Yoga blog for a detailed description of the exercises.
When I am having a lethargic morning, or the weather is uninspiring, I tell myself: just a little face yoga today, then we’ll see...
Ultimately, just getting the muscles tingling - and taking my hands out of my pockets - inspires me to do a little arm work, then why not the legs… et voila, I’ve just done a workout!
You can do a 10-minute face yoga routine easily while walking and getting warmed up!
Here are 4 face yoga exercises:
1. Underbite jaw workout: Chin down to chest, then up to the sky. 10x centre, 10x right, 10x left
2. Sucking through an imaginary straw cheek workout: (just as it sounds) - 30x
3. Eye firming workout: Exaggerate your eyes open tightening the muscles around the eye without squinting - 30x
4. Forehead workout: Place your hand over your forehead while relaxed then press up from your eyebrows - 30x
As my Face Yoga instructor Lisa says, take your time and do these exercises with intention for maximum benefit.
2. Arm workout: 7-minutes
When I do manage to workout, I like Tracy Anderson’s 15-minute full body workout video (available on Youtube). Tracy Anderson is Gwyneth Paltrow’s fitness coach. Inspired by Gwyneth’s amazing fitness - and even more so as we are the same age - I have tried a few of Tracy’s videos. I like this 15-minute full body workout as it is short and easy to justify 15-minutes out of my day. It has great music, no talking, and easy to follow yet muscle challenging exercises.
I tried doing the first 7-minutes of Tracy’s workout - the arm workout - on my dog walk, and it worked brilliantly. I didn’t bring the weights, but the exercises without weights still do the job.
Here are 6 arm workout exercises:
1. Shoulders: Raise both arms out to shoulder height. Grab air with palm facing down and twist to palm up. 10x right hand then 10x left hand.
2. Upper ams: Keeping arms raised at shoulder height. Reach up with one hand - and then out to side - 10x right hand, then 10x left hand.
3. Outer arms: Still with arms raised at shoulder height (feeling the burn now). Swing right hand to clap left hand, keeping arms straight. 10x right hand, then 10x left hand.
4. Chest & arms: Bring hands to waist with clenched fists (as if holding weights). Raise both hands up into a V-formation. Then swing hands across body down to upside-down V-formation beside your thighs. 20x
5. Back & arms: Keeping fists clenched, bring your arms straight down, hands beside thighs, pull up elbows to shoulder height. 20x
6. Bicep curls: Keeping cliched fists, keep elbows firmly at sides and curl up arms (as if you were holding weights). 30x
As with the Face Yoga, take your time and do these exercises slowly and with intention for maximum benefit.
3. Leg workout: 10-minutes
This one may slow down your dog a bit, but will also give him/her time to explore!
Here are 4 leg workout exercises:
1. Leg lunges: Take a giant step forward, hands on hips, then bring then opposite knee down to the ground. Alternating legs as you walk (step). 40-50x (steps).
2. Glutes: Take normal step forward, pause and “sit” lowering butt, hips forward, and flex back leg out and up to the back. 20x each leg.
3. Inner thigh: Take normal step forward, pause and “sit” lowering butt, hips forward, bring back leg to touch front leg, then swing as far as you can inwards past planted foot. 20x each leg.
3. Outer thigh: Take normal step forward, pause and “sit” lowering butt, hips forward, bring back leg to touch front leg, then swing as far as you can outwards away from planted foot. 20x each leg.
4. Calves: Walking slowly, go up on your toes to stretch you calves. 20x each leg. (you can also pause and go up on both feet to stretch both calves at same time.)
All of the above will give you a good 30-minute workout on your dog walk!
BONUS: Abs workout
If you are still feeling inspired when you get back to the house, take an extra 15-minutes for an ab workout or wall pilates - to workout any parts of the body you didn’t get on the dog walk.
More on Wall Pilates in a future blog!
I found exercising on my dog walk to perfectly fulfil my intention to exercise with a beautiful and calming walk through the Mediterranean countryside with my puppy!
Check out more of my Med Beauty & Wellness Blogs:
Unleashing My Inner Mediterranean Goddess with Face Yoga? Fit and Fabulous at 50! My Interview with Lisa Jedan
Share your favourite exercises that can be done on a dog walk in the comments below! I’m always looking for new ideas!
Jade
Lewon
Med
I need some face yoga in my life!!