SPRING INTO ACTION!
by Jennifer Baum

Spring, a time of renewal, is the perfect time to renew your commitment to a fit, healthy life. Fitness can be a lifestyle. It does not have to be a specific routine. Just move!

MOVING IN THE MORNING

Start your day the right way. After you've walked around for a few minutes in the morning, pretend that you're back in gym class. Do a quick set of 15 jumping jacks to get your blood pumping. Then do some squats, push-ups and crunches. Now perform a nice long, gentle stretch. This all takes less than five minutes and it leaves you full of energy to start your day.

WORKOUTS AT WORK

Park as far away from your workplace as possible. Take the stairs. Need to speak with a co-worker? Don't pick up the phone, pick yourself up and walk over to their desk. Roam the halls or run up and down the stairs during your breaks.

GET IN SHAPE SHOPPING

Take a lap or two around the entire mall before you start to shop. Zoom up and down every aisle of the supermarket even if you don't need anything from some of the aisles. Shopping at a strip mall? Don't move your car. Walk from shop to shop.

FAMILY FITNESS IS FUN

Play outside with you kids. It will be good for all of you. Walk your dog a little further each day. Enter a walk-a-thon as a family and train together. Not only will you be raising money for a good cause, you will also be spending time together as a family and exercising.

AROUND THE HOUSE

Do your own lawnwork and housework. Pull weeds. Wash windows. With the calories you've burned and the money you've saved, you can buy yourself a new outfit.

MAKE TV WORK FOR YOU

During a typical one-hour television program, approximately fifteen minutes is commercial time. So jump out of your seat. March or jog in place. Do crunches, squats, lunges and push-ups. If you have weights handy, lift them. After two hours of television viewing you'll have managed to fit in thirty minutes of exercise.

If you're lucky enough to own a treadmill, exercise bike or elliptical machine dust it off and use it. Ten or fifteen minute mini-workouts done two or three times a day really adds up.

Don't give up on your fitness. Just break it up, and you'll sail through the season with energy to spare.