Healthy Living

Who Says TV Has to Make You A Couch Potato?

Use Cable Television to Get Fit

Have you been putting off exercise? Maybe you don’t have time to drive to the gym or the money to purchase the equipment for your home. What about your television? If you have one of those and access to cable television, you could be in business.

So what does cable television have to do with exercising? Simple: You have a way to gain access to a variety of workouts at your fingertips. Instead of buying DVDs (if you can’t afford them), your cable station has resources readily available.

FitTV

This is one of the many fitness channels on cable television. FitTV provides an entire day of exercise programs from the beginner level to the more advanced. If you like dancing, you can choose from hip-hop to Bhangra to belly dancing. For the aerobic enthusiast, there are lots of step aerobic workouts. You can jump, hop and step your way to peak fitness.

Simply check your station guide for what shows come on at what times. If you have a favorite show, you can schedule thirty minutes or more to workout with the show. You can even workout with more than one show. I recently just changed satellite providers so I could get Fit TV. I hope to utilize this on days I can’t make it to the gym or just want a quick 30 min workout. Remember it’s not how long you work out, it’s what you do in the time you have.

For your weight training needs, there are plenty of shows that use dumbbells, weighted bars, weighted balls and more. Decide which ones you like and get the right equipment to perform the workout.

Exercise on Demand

If you have the digital channels on your television, there are also On Demand channels. These are channels that run shows seen on their regular channel but you can watch them whenever you want to. Simply tune to the On Demand station, pick the show you want to watch and watch it.

One of those channels is an exercise channel. Here, you can pick the workout you want and start it anytime that you want. With the On Demand feature, you can stop, rewind and fast forward your program. It’s like having access to a library of DVDs. If you have half an hour in the morning and your favorite show isn’t playing, go to the On Demand channel and look it up.

This feature makes it easy to get a workout whenever you can. It is best to try and get a regular schedule but sometimes that is not possible. Using the On Demand feature lets you find what you need and like so you can perform your workout at any time, day or night.

Hey, your television doesn’t have to make you a couch potato. Use it to stay in shape. If you don’t have FitTV or another health and fitness channel, call your cable company and have one added. Now there are no more excuses for sitting on the couch wasting away and not getting exercise into your day.

Looking for some great workout items you can do from your couch? Check out Gaiam.

Karla Urwitz
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