Balanced Living | Feb. 26, 2015

When you contemplate working out or making a fitness-related lifestyle change, do you find the lack of a gym facility to be a reason for not making the effort to change that spare tire into washboard abs? If you answered “yes,” you are not alone.

One of the common mistakes people make is sabotaging their opportunity for physique success by avoiding the place where they may be able to get the most beneficial work out ever; standing right where they are.

If you’re serious about exercising but don’t have the means to get to a regular gym all you need to do is focus on where you’re feet are and implement these suggestions to get the results you want.

1. Your Living Room

Every living room has something that is legally and architecturally required to create that space: a floor. You’re already paying for that square footage, so why not use it. Basic push-ups, crunches, planks, squats, and lunges are simple to perform and require absolutely no equipment – only your body weight and the ground beneath you.

2. The Great Outdoors

Whether you believe in creation or evolution, the fact of the matter is that there is an outdoor space around you. You utilize it when you walk to the car, when you take out the trash and when you sunbathe in the back yard. Take advantage of what is provided free of charge (including the oxygen needed for cardio) by adding a walk around the block, a sexy shirtless jog or a run to catch the bus and you will see a difference as your muscles begin to tone and body fat begins to decrease. You’ll feel better and you may be surprised at how many people honk and wave in support of your extra effort.

3. At Work

You’ve got to be there anyway, and you’re getting paid, so why not take advantage of working out on the clock? Simple things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away in the parking lot, even standing and stretching help to burn calories, improve posture and wake you up faster than your morning coffee.

4. At the Bar

When you’re standing at the side of the dance floor waiting for Mr. Cowboy to ask you to two-step or when you’re holding out for one more floor-crowding “Cupid Shuffle” to come on, stand tall, suck in that gut and move your hips just a little bit forward. Two things are taking place with this type of posture: tightening the abdominals and holding them in is an actual exercise that strengthens your core. Tipping the hips forward just a bit will straighten out the lower back and the holding of that pose will tighten the glutes and lumbar. Bonus: Your packages will be more noticeable.

5. In Bed

Men burn 100 calories in the average sex session, while women expend 69 (no kidding), but everyone needs sleep at some point. When a person doesn’t get enough sleep, on an average, they will consume 600 more calories the next day.

So, burn some calories before you sleep (sex), burn calories while you sleep (normal organ function), burn calories when you wake up (morning sex) AND avoid consuming 600 calories the next day with sufficient sleep. Brilliant!

Getting out of your head and finding reasons for not being able to accomplish your goals – whether it be fitness and gym availability, relationship success, finding the perfect match or advancing your career –your success is reliant on finding the opportunities where you are and taking them.

Just look straight down, see where your feet are? That’s where you are. Be where your feet are and take action in that space at that moment.