Recess workout: The new fitness regime

Friends hula hoop

Exercise is something which every single one of us do. When children do it, it’s called ‘playing’ but when adults do it, it’s called ‘workout’. Here’s a new trend which brings work into play but is not quite your average child’s play. It’s called ‘recess workout’, where you are burning calories, building muscles and improving flexibility while having fun all the while.

The following exercises will take you back to your primary school days while giving you the tough, brutal feel of the gym.

1) Hula Hoop - During the advertisement breaks in between your favourite TV shows or when you don’t have much to do, just pick up a hula hoop and start swivelling your hips. This is a really effective workout for the abs, and can help you burn about 200 calories for 30 minutes of hula hooping.

2) Swing - Hitting the swings in your nearby park will take you back to your free-spirited days while the pumping action done by the legs will strengthen both your quads and hamstrings, and the balancing aspect of the swinging targets the core. Although not a very effective calorie burner, it is definitely good for the body and mind.

3) Skipping - Something similar to hop scotch which you might have played during your childhood, there’s hardly any doubt that you can get a good workout by skipping with just a simple jump rope. In fact, this childhood toy can help you burn up to 350 calories in just 30 minutes of skipping.

4) Tag it - Remember the game where you would try and avoid your buddy from catching you and tagging you ‘it’? Well you might not have paid much attention to the amount of calories you were burning back then, but this exhaustive game can burn 200 calories in 20 minutes when played with some like-minded people.

Hopefully these ideas spark some creative ways for you to take the work out of your workouts and turn your fitness routines into fun-filled play sessions.