Sitcom Fitness

I'm starting to think the things we do away from the gym are more important then the things we do in the gym.  First, I'm not saying skip the gym.  If you have a 2x bodyweight deadlift,  you most likely have strength, muscle and bone density in the bank.  All tremendously important things as we age.  So don't quit going to the gym and lifting some real weights.

But I think there are things we do away from the gym that will bring just as much health and performance benefits as a few gym sessions.  Again don't skip the weights.  Everyone needs IRON.

Sitcom fitness, is a concept of what can I do while I'm watching a 30 minute television show.  Most of the time, you are just sitting on the couch.  22 min of show, 8 minutes of commercials.  Some ideas to turn this into productive time.

Train your eyes.  Slowly bring a pencil from arms length towards your nose very slowly, not losing clarity.  Do this 5 times.  When you can bring it as close to your nose as you can and not go blurry, look from the tip to the TV, focus on the TV and then quickly back to the pencil tip and refocus.  This trains quite a few muscles of your eye.  Repeat 5x.

Get rid of the chair or couch.  Sit in a ninety ninety position.  The longer you sit in this position, the more you'll start to bypass muscle and get into the hip capsule.  Most people have tight posterior hip capsules.   When you have done both sides, work on transferring from one 90/90 position to the other and back again.

Foam roll your quads and tennis ball your hips.  These are tight on nearly everyone.  You can still pay attention to the TV while rolling on the ground.

Do 5 second holds on each stop of the Turkish Get Up during one commercial.  Kalos Thenos Style, so you are holding the bridge position at the top.

Hold onto something that allows you to sit in a 3rd world squat position with an upright chest for several minutes.  If that's too easy, switch to a Cossack style squat.  A few minutes on each leg.

So there are a few suggestions to turn your favorite sitcom into an even more awesome experience.  Go get better.