You don’t have to go to the gym for a strength-training workout. With these three moves, your own body weight provides the resistance needed to develop key muscles. Start with the classic wall sit. Press your back into a wall and slide it down the wall as you walk your feet out in front of you, bending at the knees. Your thighs should be parallel to the floor and make right angles with your calves. Try to keep shoulders relaxed. Hold for up to 90 seconds, return to standing and repeat. For a challenging twist, once you’re in the wall-sit position, straighten your right leg out in front of you, holding it parallel to the floor for five seconds, return and switch legs. As the exercise becomes easier to do, increase the number of times you alternately straighten legs while holding the sit. Jumping jacks, an old standby, are still effective and offer a cardio workout as well. Here’s how to make them more fun and more challenging: Start by standing with feet together, arms at your sides and then jump out with feet as wide apart as is comfortable as arms lift out to the sides and up to shoulder-level. When you jump back in, cross your right arm over your left at mid-chest and cross your right leg over your left leg. Jump…  read on >

You know the value of exercise for maintaining good health and managing chronic conditions like arthritis, but you also know how hard it is to fit daily workouts into a busy schedule to meet weekly minimums. As an alternative, many people try to cram in a week’s worth of fitness on the weekends. While this approach has been met with skepticism in the past (along with worry about injuries), new research shows that you can get exercise’s health benefits this way. A British study published in JAMA Internal Medicine says there’s no reason to abandon exercise completely if you can’t do it during the work week. Packing exercise into your weekend is actually a viable option. Based on surveys from 63,000 people, any exercise is better than none. Researchers found that people who exercise at a high rate on weekends — getting in the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — had about 30% lower risk of early death than people who don’t exercise at all. Another interesting finding: People who exercise more often but for shorter blocks of time can also lower their risk for chronic conditions — yes, even if they fail to total 150 minutes a week. The bottom line? Get up and move whenever you can. Note: If you aren’t in shape, get your doctor’s…  read on >

Exercise is a great way to stay youthful and even turn back the clock on aging. If you’re new to exercise or simply want a fitness reboot, here are ideas by the decade. In Your 20s: Experiment with different workouts to find what you enjoy. Make exercise a regular habit that you won’t want to give up, even when career and family make heavy demands on you. In Your 30s: Short on time? Try three 15-minute walks spread throughout the day. To stay fit and retain muscle, do cardio just about every day and strength training two or three times a week. If you’re new to exercise, take classes or have a personal trainer create a program for you. In Your 40s: Enhance your weekly routine by doing both low-intensity exercise, like yoga for stress relief and flexibility, and high-intensity workouts, like interval training or a spin or kettlebell class, to boost calorie burn and muscle elasticity. Expect longer recovery times after high-intensity workouts, so make sure to get enough sleep. In Your 50s: Regular exercise remains a must, but ask your doctor for modifications if you have any chronic conditions. Varying your workouts or taking up a new sport will engage your brain as well as different muscles. Get in at least one or two high-intensity workouts a week and try to take active…  read on >

Playing team sports is a great way to teach kids life lessons about leadership, teamwork and how to socialize with peers. Sports are also a great way to build self-esteem and gain physical skills. Most important, they’re fun. But too many — nearly three-quarters of young athletes — are specializing in just one activity as early as 7 years old, even playing on numerous league-level teams. This puts them at risk for injury, stress, burnout and eventually abandoning sports, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). About 70% drop out by age 13 for such reasons as pressure to perform or, conversely, not getting enough playing time. And at least half of athletic injuries are related to overuse. On the other hand, playing multiple sports offers benefits such as fostering a love of different activities that can last their entire lives. To keep kids in the game, the AAP suggests encouraging them to play multiple sports until at least age 15. To lessen the risk of injury, they need one or two days off every week. If the decision has been made to specialize in a single sport, both parents and child should have a discussion with the child’s pediatrician to evaluate whether the young athlete’s goals are appropriate and realistic. Keep in mind that barely 1% of high school athletes…  read on >

Obliques are the muscles that run along the sides of your torso, from the lower eight ribs to the front of the hip bone. They contract when you rotate your torso, so a great way to develop them is with an exercise called the Russian twist. Lie flat on the floor in a spot where you can tuck your feet under a low piece of furniture to keep them from moving or have a workout buddy hold them in place for you. Bend your knees and raise your upper body to make a V-shape with your thighs. Extend your arms in front of you from the shoulders, lifting them until they’re parallel with your thighs, hands together. Tighten your abdomen — think of trying to bring your navel to your spine. Now twist your entire upper body, arms included, to the right side. Hold, then return to start. Repeat to the left. That’s one full repetition. Do two sets of 12 to 15 reps in all. As you get more advanced, you can hold a weight in both hands for added resistance. One type of weight that’s easy to hold is the medicine ball. This is a weighted ball, not the kind of inflated exercise ball that you might sit on for balance exercises. Choose a weight that slows down your movement. Each rep should…  read on >