It’s easy to lose that fine muscle tone you either had, or wished you had, if you’re chained to your desk at work.
But you don’t have to just sit there and turn into a gelatinous blob.
A simple type of exercise that has been around forever can rescue you:
Isometrics.
Isometric exercise is super easy. One way to do it is to press your hands against an immovable object, such as your chair. You’ll be creating resistance, which of course is the same principle that you’ll use with weights and most exercise machines.
Do you remember seeing that picture of martial artist Bruce Lee as he grimaced, and his shredded, incredibly defined muscles seemed to burst through his skin? In that very pose Lee was doing a form of isometrics referred to as “lock & release.”
This is very similar to pushing down on or pulling up on your chair, except, there’s no chair involved. You can be standing by yourself, or sitting, and you consciously “lock” all of your muscles, or selected muscle groups.
This body-tensing can last for a second or two, or longer, depending on your fitness level and desired effect. What you’ll find, afterwards, is a feeling of tightness that’s the same as what you’ll experience by going to a gym, working the same muscles on a machine.
The toning action of isometrics is really extraordinary. Whether you’re working abs, arms, or legs, you should be able, over the course of time, to get more definition, providing your diet isn’t out of whack.
Isometrics can also provide some stress relief, which is always nice, and you can do them anywhere, without gadgetry. As with any exercise program, start gradually, adding resistance as you go.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com [http://www.Customersatisfaction.com/], is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
