Getting enough cardio in throughout the day to improve your heart health is already a challenge as it is. To add on to this issue, individuals who find themselves in a wheelchair or similar situations might not be able to go out for a jog or even got on to a recumbent bicycle. Because of this, offering some different ways for them to exercise and participate in cardio at home is extremely important. Through the use of a few different exercises, we can see that there are multiple different ways that one can get in a great cardio exercise at home, all from the comfort of their chair. Follow the video above, or read the descriptions below to get started.
Before You Exercise
As mentioned in the video above, you will need some type of object that is acting as a placement, dot, or something for your feet to touch and move around during the exercises. I personally use an exercise dot that works well because it is colorful and very tough. The dot can be found here on amazon. If you don’t want to purchase something, you can also use a towel as well. Also, make sure your chair is sturdy and able to with handle some vigorous movements.
Easy Cardio Exercise at Home – Seated Cardio Exercise to Gain Stamina
The exercises that are demonstrated in the video, and that we will talk about today are the following:
- Dot Taps
- Dot Taps with Arms
- Dot Tap with Twisting Punch
- Side Reaches
- Reaches to the Ground
- Dot Hops
Dot Taps
Dot taps are as simple as they sound. For dot taps, you are going to alternate tapping the dot or object in front of you with one foot, and then follow it with the other foot. This is a great place to start the workout, and offers you time to warmup your body and make sure you are feeling okay for more seated cardio exercises.
Dot Taps with Arms
This exercise is an add-on to the previous one, where you will be adding a reach to the sky with your arms, in addition to tapping the dot on the ground. Make sure to try to reach your hand as high as you can to the sky, in addition to touching the dot as quickly as possible. You can reach with your opposite arm and opposite foot, or reach with the same side arm or foot. The choice is yours!
Dot Tap with Twisting Punch
This variation is similar to the last one, except instead of reaching up into the air, you will be twisting across your body and trying to punch as far as you can to the side. You will still be trying to touch your dot precisely with your foot at the same time as the twist, which is much easier said than done!
Side Reaches
For the side reaches, you will start with your dot to the side of your chair. Next, you will reach down to the side and pick up your dot. Then, you will place the dot on the other side of the chair. You will finish by sitting up tall. Complete this movement numerous times, ideally going as quick as possible and switching the dot from side to side. Moving as quickly as possible keeps your heart rate up!
Reaches to the Ground
This exercise will start with the dot in between your feet, in front of your chair. You will then reach down and touch the dot with one hand. With the same hand, you will then reach up as high as you can to the sky. Repeat the same movement on the other hand, continually alternating the hand reach down to the ground and up to the sky as quickly as possible.
Dot Hops
The last exercise is one of my favorites. For dot hops, you will start with the dot in front of you again. Next, with both legs, hop over the dot side to side as quickly as possible. Once you do this, you can then hop forward and backward as quickly as possible. Try to be precise with your foot movements, while still moving quickly. If this is too hard to do with two feet, try doing it one foot at a time.
That is all of the at home cardio exercises we demonstrated in the video. Do these exercises as frequently as you can throughout the day to improve your heart health and hopefully help your endurance and stamina out. If you know someone who struggles with typical cardio, these may be great options for them. If you did want to purchase one of the dots used in the video above, the amazon link is listed here. Good luck with your workouts!
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